Empathic Accuracy Across Childhood, Adolescence, and Within Parent-Child Interactions: A Systematic Review

Empathic accuracy (EA) is the ability to precisely understand someone else's current thoughts and feelings during an interaction. EA has mostly been studied in adult populations; variations in EA in children/adolescents could be explained by age, developmental changes during childhood, and environmental factors. A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the existing literature on EA in childhood, adolescence, and during parent-child interactions. Following PRISMA guidelines, five electronic databases were searched, yielding 24 references. Most studies were conducted in samples of adolescents. Additionally, the operationalization of EA varied across studies. Although studies showed minor variations of EA with age, there is no clear association of age with EA during childhood. Children and adolescents also achieve similar scores as adults. Additionally, children's and parents' EAs are linked to parents' and children's behaviors during interactions. EA is also associated with gender beliefs: parents and children hold beliefs that girls and mothers should have higher empathy than boys and fathers. It is not possible to determine age variation in EA during childhood. This systematic review highlights a lack of transparent methodologies and specific assessments of EA in children and adolescents in the current literature.