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Piening S, van Balkom IDC, Stapert AF, Henning D, Greaves-Lord K, Davids LRCD, Castelein S, Groen Y. Perspectives on Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis, Symptoms, Treatment and Gender Roles: A Qualitative Study of Similarities and Differences between Sexes. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:7183. [PMID: 38131734 PMCID: PMC10742825 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20247183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to compare the experiences of women and men of different age groups with regard to their first autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and gender roles to inform our understanding in clinical practice of differences as well as similarities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst 22 women (n = 12) and men (n = 10) in three adult age groups regarding their diagnostic process, symptoms, treatment, and gender roles. Participants also filled out questionnaires on gender traits, social support, coping, and quality of life. Framework analysis guidelines were followed to identify subthemes within the three pre-defined key themes of the semi-structured interviews, and quantitative analyses were performed on the questionnaire results. Women often had caregiver roles and were more focused on social and family-oriented life aspects than men. Family and societal expectations may have been different for women from an early age onward and were considered burdensome by some, but not all. Views on ASD diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment were largely individually determined. The questionnaire results mostly showed no significant sex differences. Perceived gender roles differed between participants. In diagnosis and treatment, awareness of general gender differences and gender roles is important, but inter-individual differences and similar experiences in men should not be overlooked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sigrid Piening
- Autism Team Northern-Netherlands, Jonx, Department of (Youth) Mental Health and Autism of Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands (A.F.S.); (K.G.-L.)
| | - Ingrid D. C. van Balkom
- Autism Team Northern-Netherlands, Jonx, Department of (Youth) Mental Health and Autism of Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands (A.F.S.); (K.G.-L.)
| | - Anne Fleur Stapert
- Autism Team Northern-Netherlands, Jonx, Department of (Youth) Mental Health and Autism of Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands (A.F.S.); (K.G.-L.)
| | - Daria Henning
- Outpatient Clinic for the Elderly, Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9725 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kirstin Greaves-Lord
- Autism Team Northern-Netherlands, Jonx, Department of (Youth) Mental Health and Autism of Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands (A.F.S.); (K.G.-L.)
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Stynke Castelein
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
- Lentis Research, Lentis Psychiatric Institute, 9725 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Yvonne Groen
- Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
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Smith RA, Cross ES. The McNorm library: creating and validating a new library of emotionally expressive whole body dance movements. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 87:484-508. [PMID: 35385989 PMCID: PMC8985749 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01669-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The ability to exchange affective cues with others plays a key role in our ability to create and maintain meaningful social relationships. We express our emotions through a variety of socially salient cues, including facial expressions, the voice, and body movement. While significant advances have been made in our understanding of verbal and facial communication, to date, understanding of the role played by human body movement in our social interactions remains incomplete. To this end, here we describe the creation and validation of a new set of emotionally expressive whole-body dance movement stimuli, named the Motion Capture Norming (McNorm) Library, which was designed to reconcile a number of limitations associated with previous movement stimuli. This library comprises a series of point-light representations of a dancer's movements, which were performed to communicate to observers neutrality, happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Based on results from two validation experiments, participants could reliably discriminate the intended emotion expressed in the clips in this stimulus set, with accuracy rates up to 60% (chance = 20%). We further explored the impact of dance experience and trait empathy on emotion recognition and found that neither significantly impacted emotion discrimination. As all materials for presenting and analysing this movement library are openly available, we hope this resource will aid other researchers in further exploration of affective communication expressed by human bodily movement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A. Smith
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland
| | - Emily S. Cross
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland ,Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
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Shalev I, Warrier V, Greenberg DM, Smith P, Allison C, Baron‐Cohen S, Eran A, Uzefovsky F. Reexamining empathy in autism: Empathic disequilibrium as a novel predictor of autism diagnosis and autistic traits. Autism Res 2022; 15:1917-1928. [PMID: 36053924 PMCID: PMC9804307 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
A large body of research showed that autistic people have intact emotional (affective) empathy alongside reduced cognitive empathy. However, there are mixed findings and these call for a more subtle understanding of empathy in autism. Empathic disequilibrium refers to the imbalance between emotional and cognitive empathy and is associated with a higher number of autistic traits in the typical population. Here we examined whether empathic disequilibrium predicts both the number of autistic traits and autism diagnosis. In a large sample of autistic (N = 1905) and typical individuals (N = 3009), we examined empathic disequilibrium and empathy as predictors of autistic traits and autism diagnosis, using a polynomial regression with response surface analysis. Empathy and autistic traits were measured using validated self-report questionnaires. Both empathic disequilibrium and empathy predicted linearly and non-linearly autism diagnosis and autistic traits. Specifically, a tendency towards higher emotional than cognitive empathy (empathic disequilibrium towards emotional empathy) predicted both autism diagnosis and the social domain of autistic traits, while higher cognitive than emotional empathy was associated with the non-social domain of autism. Empathic disequilibrium was also more prominent in autistic females. This study provides evidence that beyond empathy as was measured thus far, empathic disequilibrium offers a novel analytical approach for examining the role of empathy. Empathic disequilibrium allows for a more nuanced understanding of the links between empathy and autism. LAY SUMMARY: Many autistic individuals report feelings of excessive empathy, yet their experience is not reflected by most of the current literature, typically suggesting that autism is characterized by intact emotional and reduced cognitive empathy. To fill this gap, we looked at both ends of the imbalance between these components, termed empathic disequilibrium. We show that, like empathy, empathic disequilibrium is related to autism diagnosis and traits, and thus may provide a more nuanced understanding of empathy and its link with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ido Shalev
- Psychology DepartmentBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael,Zlotowski Center for NeuroscienceBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael
| | - Varun Warrier
- Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - David M. Greenberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK,Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences and Department of MusicBar‐Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
| | - Paula Smith
- Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Carrie Allison
- Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Simon Baron‐Cohen
- Department of Psychiatry, Autism Research CentreUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Alal Eran
- Zlotowski Center for NeuroscienceBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael,Life Sciences DepartmentBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael,Computational Health Informatics ProgramBoston Children's HospitalBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Florina Uzefovsky
- Psychology DepartmentBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael,Zlotowski Center for NeuroscienceBen Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShebaIsrael
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Self-perceived empathic abilities of people with autism towards living beings mostly differs for humans. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6300. [PMID: 35428857 PMCID: PMC9012821 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10353-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Being phylogenetically close involves greater empathic perceptions towards other species. To explore this phenomenon, this study investigates the influence of neurocognitive predispositions to empathy on our perceptions of other organisms. Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized, among others, by weakened empathic skills. Our online survey involved a group of 202 raters with ASD and a control group of 1100 raters, who had to make choices to assess their empathic perceptions toward an extended photographic sampling of organisms. Results highlight that both groups present overall similar trends in their empathic preferences, with empathy scores significantly decreasing with the phylogenetic distance relatively to humans. However, the empathy score attributed to Homo sapiens in the ASD group represents a striking outlier in the yet very sharp overall correlation between empathy scores and divergence time, scoring our species as low as cold-blooded vertebrates. These results are consistent with previous studies, which emphasized that (1) understanding human beings would be more difficult for people with ASD than decoding “animals” and (2) that Theory of Mind impairment would not represent a global deficit in people with ASD but may relate to the mindreading of specifically human agents.
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Hand CJ, Kennedy A, Filik R, Pitchford M, Robus CM. Emoji Identification and Emoji Effects on Sentence Emotionality in ASD-Diagnosed Adults and Neurotypical Controls. J Autism Dev Disord 2022; 53:2514-2528. [PMID: 35415776 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05557-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
We investigated ASD-diagnosed adults' and neurotypical (NT) controls' processing of emoji and emoji influence on the emotionality of otherwise-neutral sentences. Study 1 participants categorised emoji representing the six basic emotions using a fixed-set of emotional adjectives. Results showed that ASD-diagnosed participants' classifications of fearful, sad, and surprised emoji were more diverse and less 'typical' than NT controls' responses. Study 2 participants read emotionally-neutral sentences; half paired with sentence-final happy emoji, half with sad emoji. Participants rated sentence + emoji stimuli for emotional valence. ASD-diagnosed and NT participants rated sentences + happy emoji as equally-positive, however, ASD-diagnosed participants rated sentences + sad emoji as more-negative than NT participants. We must acknowledge differential perceptions and effects of emoji, and emoji-text inter-relationships, when working with neurodiverse stakeholders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Hand
- School of Education, University of Glasgow, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow, G3 6NH, UK.
| | - Ashley Kennedy
- Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK
| | - Ruth Filik
- School of Psychology, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Christopher M Robus
- School of Psychotherapy and Psychology, Regents University London, London, UK
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Kerr-Gaffney J, Harrison A, Tchanturia K. Autism spectrum disorder traits are associated with empathic abilities in adults with anorexia nervosa. J Affect Disord 2020; 266:273-281. [PMID: 32056888 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social and emotional difficulties have been identified as key factors in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa (AN). However, few studies have investigated the influence of comorbid psychopathology on social cognition. The aim of the current study was to examine perception of nonverbal communication and empathy in AN using ecologically valid, performance-based measures, and to explore associations with comorbid psychopathology (anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits, alexithymia, and social anxiety). METHODS In this cross-sectional study, the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Mini Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (MiniPONS) were administered to 51 adults with AN, 51 recovered AN (REC), and 51 healthy controls (HCs). Comorbid psychopathological traits were assessed using self-report questionnaires and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - 2nd edition (ADOS-2). RESULTS Individuals with AN showed reduced affective empathy to positive stimuli compared to HCs, and a trend towards lower vocal prosody recognition scores relative to REC. Around a quarter of AN and REC scored above the clinical cut-off for ASD on the ADOS-2, and high ASD symptoms predicted lower cognitive and affective empathy scores. LIMITATIONS The study is cross-sectional, future research would benefit from examining social-cognition performance and comorbid psychopathology longitudinally. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the importance of ASD symptoms in empathy dysfunction in those with a lifetime history of AN. Future research should explore whether treatment adaptations to accommodate for differences in social-cognitive abilities may be helpful in the treatment of AN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jess Kerr-Gaffney
- King's College London, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom.
| | - Amy Harrison
- University College London, Department of Psychology and Human Development, London, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, National Eating Disorders Service, Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Tchanturia
- King's College London, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom; South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, National Eating Disorders Service, Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
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Warrier V, Toro R, Won H, Leblond CS, Cliquet F, Delorme R, De Witte W, Bralten J, Chakrabarti B, Børglum AD, Grove J, Poelmans G, Hinds DA, Bourgeron T, Baron-Cohen S. Social and non-social autism symptoms and trait domains are genetically dissociable. Commun Biol 2019; 2:328. [PMID: 31508503 PMCID: PMC6722082 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0558-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The core diagnostic criteria for autism comprise two symptom domains - social and communication difficulties, and unusually repetitive and restricted behaviour, interests and activities. There is some evidence to suggest that these two domains are dissociable, though this hypothesis has not yet been tested using molecular genetics. We test this using a genome-wide association study (N = 51,564) of a non-social trait related to autism, systemising, defined as the drive to analyse and build systems. We demonstrate that systemising is heritable and genetically correlated with autism. In contrast, we do not identify significant genetic correlations between social autistic traits and systemising. Supporting this, polygenic scores for systemising are significantly and positively associated with restricted and repetitive behaviour but not with social difficulties in autistic individuals. These findings strongly suggest that the two core domains of autism are genetically dissociable, and point at how to fractionate the genetics of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varun Warrier
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Roberto Toro
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Hyejung Won
- Department of Genetics and Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA
| | - Claire S. Leblond
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Freddy Cliquet
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Richard Delorme
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Ward De Witte
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Janita Bralten
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Bhismadev Chakrabarti
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
- Centre for Autism, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Anders D. Børglum
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Biomedicine - Human Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jakob Grove
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Biomedicine - Human Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Geert Poelmans
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Thomas Bourgeron
- Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, UMR3571 CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
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Abstract
Many people perceive autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a childhood disorder, yet ASD is a lifelong condition. Although little is known about the mental and physical health issues of aging individuals with ASD, there are increasing numbers of older adults being diagnosed with ASD. Although there has been a recent "call to action" (to address lack of knowledge and the dearth of services and programs for aging individuals with autism, the authors think it is also important for those who are involved in educational programs related to gerontology and geriatrics settings to be aware of "autism aging." This term conceptualizes the demographics, person and contextual factors, and intellectual awareness of the trends and patterns of ASD as a life course challenge and opportunity for well-being and quality of life. The purposes of this article are to (1) provide a general overview of autism issues and to examine several dimensions of ASD in the context of the emergent and relevant scholarship in the adult and aging domain, (2) propose how to address the "gap" in the literature on autism and aging in terms of a conceptual model and by improving the methodology, and (3) to discuss the implications of these dimensions for educators in gerontology and geriatrics, and for those professionals who work in clinical and health care services. It is the goal of the authors to have this article represent a general introduction to ASD and to be a part of the foundation for educational awareness for educators in gerontology and geriatrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott D Wright
- a Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program, University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA
| | - Cheryl A Wright
- b Family and Consumer Studies Department , University of Utah , Salt Lake City , Utah , USA
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10
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Fragkos KC, Sotiropoulos I, Frangos CC. Empathy assessment in healthcare students is highly heterogeneous: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2012-2016). World J Meta-Anal 2019; 7:1-30. [DOI: 10.13105/wjma.v7.i1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Revised: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/30/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Clinical empathy leads to improved patient satisfaction and better clinical outcomes. Currently, there are multiple empathy scales with minimal or no efforts to produce an integrated definition of clinical empathy which can be assessed sufficiently by only a few scales. Moreover, there is an unclear overall reliability of these empathy scales, hence limiting comparative evaluation.
AIM To examine which empathy scales have been used in healthcare students and to estimate their overall internal consistency.
METHODS A systematic review was performed with inclusion criteria any empirical study with quantitative data examining empathy of healthcare students toward patients between 2012 and 2016. A random effects model was used to produce a pooled estimate of the Cronbach’s alphas. The Hakstian-Whalen transformation was used for analyses based on the Rodriguez-Maeda method. Heterogeneity was quantified using the I2 statistic and further investigated with subgroup analysis and meta-regression. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots, Egger’s test, Begg’s test, and the trim and fill analysis.
RESULTS Thirteen scales have been used to assess clinical empathy in healthcare students from forty nine studies with total sample size 49384 students. The most frequently used scale is the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy followed by Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The overall reliability was 0.805 (95%CI 0.786-0.823), which is acceptable, but there was heterogeneity and publication bias. Some heterogeneity was explained by the different countries of the studies under investigation and student types but most heterogeneity remained unexplained.
CONCLUSION The results indicate that scales have satisfactory internal consistency but there are a multitude of scales, definitions and empathy components. Future research should focus on standardizing scales and creating consensus statements regarding the definition of empathy and use of appropriate scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantinos C Fragkos
- GI Services, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London NW1 2PG, United Kingdom
- Medical School, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Ioannis Sotiropoulos
- Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Ioannina, Psathaki 481 00 Preveza, Greece
| | - Christos C Frangos
- Greek Research Institute for the Study of Quantitative, Social and Biomedical Problems, Athens 141 21, Greece
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Kerr-Gaffney J, Harrison A, Tchanturia K. Cognitive and Affective Empathy in Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:102. [PMID: 30886590 PMCID: PMC6410675 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Recent models of eating disorders (EDs) have proposed social and emotional difficulties as key factors in the development and maintenance of the illness. While a number of studies have demonstrated difficulties in theory of mind and emotion recognition, little is known about empathic abilities in those with EDs. Further, few studies have examined the cognitive-affective empathy profile in EDs. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide a synthesis of empathy studies in EDs, and examine whether those with EDs differ from healthy controls (HC) on self-reported total, cognitive, and affective empathy. Methods: Electronic databases were systematically searched for studies using self-report measures of empathy in ED populations. In total, 17 studies were identified, 14 of which could be included in the total empathy meta-analysis. Eight of the 14 studies were included in the cognitive and affective empathy meta-analyses. Results: Meta-analyses showed that while total empathy and affective empathy scores did not differ between those with anorexia nervosa (AN) and HC, those with AN had significantly lower cognitive empathy scores compared to HCs (small effect size). Meta-analyses of Interpersonal Reactivity Index sub-scores revealed that AN had significantly lower Fantasy scores than HC (small effect size), indicating that those with AN have more difficulty in identifying themselves with fictional characters. Only 3 studies examined empathy in those with bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge eating disorder (BED). Conclusions: The lowered cognitive empathy and intact affective empathy profile found in AN is similar to that found in other psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These findings add to the literature characterizing the socio-emotional phenotype in EDs. Future research should examine the influence of comorbid psychopathology on empathy in EDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jess Kerr-Gaffney
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amy Harrison
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, National Eating Disorders Service, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Tchanturia
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, National Eating Disorders Service, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
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12
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Deuter CE, Nowacki J, Wingenfeld K, Kuehl LK, Finke JB, Dziobek I, Otte C. The role of physiological arousal for self-reported emotional empathy. Auton Neurosci 2018; 214:9-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.autneu.2018.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Abstract
BACKGROUND "Aging well" is an increasingly popular concept in gerontology. Adults with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder represent a demographically substantial population, yet remain excluded from existing conceptualizations of aging well. This qualitative study aimed to explore what it means for autistic adults to "age well" from the perspectives of autistic adults and carers. METHODS Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 autistic adults (mean age 50.3 years) and 9 carers of autistic adults. Interviews were offered in four formats: email, telephone, Skype, and face-to-face and included three questions exploring what it means for autistic adults to age well as well as what might help or hinder them from aging well. RESULTS Aging well was found to be a multifaceted concept that encompassed the autistic individual, others, the world they live in, and relational issues connecting these domains. Thematic analysis revealed eight themes to be common across participants' responses: "myself," "being autistic," "others," "lifestyle and living well," "being supported," "relating to others," "life environment," and "societal attitudes and acceptance." CONCLUSIONS In line with previous studies, a more diverse range of personal and environmental factors should be included in conceptualizing aging well. In contrast to dominant perspectives, being autistic was not considered a hindrance to aging well. Rather, social and relational issues were central and unique to aging well for autistic adults. Implications include the need to address societal attitudes towards autism and building capacity and understanding in those who are both formally and informally involved in the lives of autistic adults.
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Labbé T, Ciampi E, Carcamo Rodríguez C. Social cognition: Concepts, neural basis and its role in multiple sclerosis. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/ncn3.12164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tomás Labbé
- Interdisciplinary Center of Neuroscience School of Medicine Pontifical Catholic University of ChileSantiago Chile
| | - Ethel Ciampi
- Neurology Department School of Medicine Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Santiago Chile
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