SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2022
Meta-analysis of associations between empathy and alcohol use and problems in clinical and non-clinical samples.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social cognition in Korsakoff's syndrome: A meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between theory of mind and alcohol problems in non-clinical samples.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of associations between empathy and alcohol use and problems in clinical and non-clinical samples.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of empathy on drinking motives, craving, and drink orders: An experimental study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Trial
- Psilocybin increases emotional empathy in patients with major depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Alcohol's acute effects on emotion recognition and empathy in heavy-drinking young adults.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Competitive Bias in Severe Alcohol Use Disorder: An Exploration Through the Prisoner's Dilemma Paradigm.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Article
- MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for AUD: Bayesian analysis of WHO drinking risk level and exploratory analysis of drinking behavior and psychosocial functioning at 3 months follow-up.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2025Article
- Modeling social cognition in alcohol use disorder: lessons from schizophrenia.Psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Associations between alcohol consumption and empathy in a non-clinical sample: drinking motives as a moderator.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior: a proposed mechanism for enduring antidepressant effects.Npj mental health research · 2024Review
- Primary Care Professionals' Empathy and Its Relationship to Approaching Patients with Risky Alcohol Consumption.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Sensitivity of Hypocretin System to Chronic Alcohol Exposure: A Human and Animal Study.Neuroscience · 2023Article
- Associations of state and trait empathy with daily alcohol use.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Article
- Opposing associations of Internet Use Disorder symptom domains with structural and functional organization of the striatum: A dimensional neuroimaging approach.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2022Article
- Indirect effects of theory of mind on alcohol use and problems in underage drinkers: The role of peer pressure to drink.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo (1) measure the aggregated effect size of empathy deficits in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) compared with healthy controls, (2) measure the aggregated effect sizes for associations between lower empathy and heavier alcohol consumption and more alcohol problems in non-clinical samples and (3) identify potential moderators on the variability of effect sizes across studies in these meta-analyses.
methodPsycINFO, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched following a pre-registered International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) protocol (CRD42021225392) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. We meta-analyzed (using random-effects models) mean differences in empathy between individuals with AUD compared with healthy controls and associations between empathy and alcohol consumption and alcohol problems in non-clinical samples. A total of 714 participants were included in the meta-analysis on clinical samples; 3955 were included in the meta-analyses on non-clinical samples.
resultsIndividuals with AUD reported significantly lower empathy than healthy controls [Hedges' g = -0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.91, -0.16, k = 9, P < 0.01, Q = 40.09, I
conclusionIndividuals with alcohol use disorder appear to show deficits in empathy compared with healthy controls. Deficits are particularly pronounced for older individuals and for cognitive (versus affective) empathy. In non-clinical samples, lower empathy appears to be associated with heavier alcohol consumption and more alcohol problems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.