Samenvatting

Children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders, including oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder (CD), are known to show little compassion and empathy for others’ suffering, particularly those with callous-unemotional (psychopathic) traits. This contribution addresses the question of what we know about the nature and causes of empathy problems in youth with disruptive behavior disorders, and whether the problems are different among subtypes. The heterogeneity of disruptive behavior disorders is discussed, the complexity of the empathy process, and research on empathy deficits in children and adolescents with ODD/CD. To sum up, (1) it is proposed that different mechanisms may underlie empathy problems seen in children and adolescents with ODD/CD, with or without psychopathic traits, (2) the strength of the empathy response depends in part on stimulus characteristics, also for those with psychopathic traits, and (3) it is advised to use a multimethod approach to depict the empathy process at different levels of human functioning.