Empathy and Cognitive Distortions in Sex Offenders Participating in Community Based Treatment.

This study examined the relationship between empathy as measured by the Empathy Index (EI) and the Cognitive Distortion Scale (CDS) among a sample ( = 151) of individuals who committed sexual offenses who were receiving community-based sex offender treatment in a large southern state. The extent to which the relationships by age was also considered. The findings indicated a weak but significant positive correlation between total empathy and each of the cognitive distortion scales, and a similar positive correlation between the instrumental aggression empathy subscale and the three cognitive distortion scales.