No Sex-based Differences in Self-reported Empathy between Patients with Schizophrenia and Control Subjects

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia, one of the most disabling disorders worldwide, is characterized by impaired empathy, which appears to be more common in women. 

Methods: This study aimed to compare empathy levels between control subjects and patients with schizophrenia by sex. We compared sixty-two patients with schizophrenia and 166 control subjects. All participants completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance model was performed with the EQ as the outcome criterion, and group and sex as fixed factors to test for interaction effects. 

Results: Overall, patients obtained lower scores in the cognitive, emotional reactivity and social skills domains of empathy (p < 0.001). No differences between men and women were found and no interaction effect was identified between sex and group (schizophrenia vs. control) (p > 0.05). 

Conclusion: This study adds to the evidence on differences in social cognition between people with and without a mental illness such as schizophrenia. It also identifies the absence of sex differences between men and women, observed in both the group of patients and control subjects, which warrants further exploration.