Comparing empathy in 5-11 years old children with internalizing disorders

The main purpose of this study was to compare the Empathy transition in 5-11 year old children with internalizing disorders. The method of the study was causal-comparative. The statistical population was all the 5-11 year old pre-school and elementary children from five districts of Tabriz. The sampling method was simple random sampling. The five age groups included 5, 6, 7, 9 and 11 years old. Thirty patients (15 male and 15 female) were selected from each age group. To gather the data, two questionnaires (children symptom inventory and Dodds` empathy scale) were used. To analyze the data, one way ANOVA and follow up Tukeys test were conducted. The results showed that there was a significant difference among the 5-11 year old children on empathy transition. Based on the results of th Turkey test, it was found that was a significant difference between 5- and 6- year old children. Also, a significant difference was found between 7-and 9- year old children and 11- year old ones. There was also a significant difference among the 5-11 year old children with internalizing disorder. The results of the Turkey test showed that there was a significant difference between 5- and 6- year old children and 7-, 9-, and 11 year old ones. Moreover, there was a significant difference between 7- and 9- year old children 11- year – old ones. It was concluded that with increased empathy, the level of internalizing disorder decreases.