Response inhibition, sustained attention and dimensionsof empathy in children with externalizing disorder

Externalizing behavioral disorder are one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Among the psychological components that are affected in these children are executive functions and empathy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate inhibition, response, sustained attention and dimensions of empathy in children with behavioral disorders

The present study is descriptive and causal-comparative. The statistical population included elementary school students (ages 8 to 12 years old) in Tabriz in the academic year of 2019-2020. To collect the data, the Teacher Form Children’s Symptoms Questionnaire, Stroop and Continuous Performance Tests, and the Dods Empathy Scale were used. The results were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance in SPSS20 software.

The results showed that response inhibition, sustained attention, cold and hot empathy in children with externalized behavioral disorder were less pronounced than in children without disturbances. (F= 40/57, P< 0/05).

It can be concluded that executive functions and empathy in children with externalized behavioral disorders are impaired. Identifying and understanding these factors can help to better understand this disorder and offer different treatment strategies.