The Portuguese Version of Victim Empathy Distortion Scale: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties

Victim empathy is a common intervention target in intervention programs designed for individuals who perpetrated child sexual abuse (CSA). Researchers have developed the Victim Empathy Distortion Scale (VES), an instrument designed to assess empathy for victims of CSA. The present study aims to adapt the VES for the Portuguese population and examine its psychometric properties. One hundred and twelve individuals who perpetrated CSA and 245 individuals from the community participated in this study. The confirmatory factor analysis did not show satisfactory indices for the structures previously tested. Consequently, the search for an alternative model revealed a two-factor structure, explaining approximately 50% of the total variance. Results also indicated good internal consistency, discriminant validity, and known-groups validity. Overall, the results support the claim that the Portuguese version of the VES is a valuable and psychometrically reliable instrument for measuring victim empathy in forensic and non-forensic settings.