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Cheang RT, Skjevling M, Blakemore AI, Kumari V, Puzzo I. Do you feel me? Autism, empathic accuracy and the double empathy problem. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024:13623613241252320. [PMID: 38757626 DOI: 10.1177/13623613241252320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT The assumption that autistic people lack empathy, particularly imagining how others feel, has been much debated and is now being challenged by an alternative view: the 'double empathy problem'. This suggests that non-autistic people may find it equally difficult to imagine how autistic people feel. Although this perspective is gaining popularity, research testing whether non-autistic people can accurately imagine and feel an autistic person's emotions is still limited. Our study used video clips of autistic and non-autistic people recounting emotional events to test if participants from the general population could: track the intensity of the narrators' emotions; name and feel the same emotion; match where the narrator felt the emotion and indicate how intensely they felt the emotion using a body map. Our results show that participants found it significantly harder to track autistic narrators' emotions compared to non-autistic narrator's emotions, especially when viewing clips of narrators feeling happy and sad. We also found that participants felt emotions more intensely in the body when viewing clips of autistic narrators compared to non-autistic narrators, especially when describing anger and fear. These findings support the double empathy problem and have strong implications for therapeutic and interpersonal relationships with autistic people.
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Hu DD, Guo XD, Zheng H, Yan C, Lui SSY, Wang YY, Wang Y, Chan RCK. Empathic accuracy in individuals with schizotypal personality traits. Psych J 2024. [PMID: 38530878 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Empirical research using the Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT) has suggested that schizophrenia patients and people with schizotypal personality disorder exhibit lower empathic accuracy than healthy people. However, empathic accuracy in a subclinical sample with high levels of schizotypy has seldom been studied. Our study aimed to investigate empathy in a subclinical sample using the Chinese version of the EAT and a self-report empathy measure. Forty participants with high levels of schizotypy (HS participants) and 40 with low levels of schizotypy (LS participants), as measured by the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), were recruited. All participants completed the Chinese version of the EAT and the self-report Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy. Empathic accuracy (EA) scores and the intra-individual variability of EA scores were calculated. Independent samples t tests and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine group differences in empathy and the relationship between empathy and schizotypy respectively. HS participants exhibited reduced EA for both positive and negative videos, and larger intra-individual variability of EA for negative videos than LS participants. However, HS and LS participants did not differ in self-report cognitive empathy. Moreover, the interpersonal dimension of the SPQ was negatively correlated with EAT performance and self-report cognitive empathy in LS participants. Individuals with HS show poorer performance-based EA but relatively intact self-report cognitive empathy. This study provides empirical evidence for the ontogeny of empathy deficits in subclinical populations at risk of developing schizophrenia, supporting early interventions for social cognitive deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ding-Ding Hu
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao-Dong Guo
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hong Zheng
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Yan
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOES & STCSM), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Simon S Y Lui
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yan-Yu Wang
- School of Psychology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Rum Y, Golan O, Allison C, Smith P, White SR, Baron-Cohen S. Does Having a Sibling Affect Autistic People's Empathy? J Autism Dev Disord 2023:10.1007/s10803-023-06153-w. [PMID: 37934396 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06153-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
This study examined whether autistic people with siblings score higher on measures of empathy than those without siblings. Cohorts of autistic children (n = 939; mean age = 7.35 years (SD = 2.15)) and autistic adults (n = 736; mean age = 37 years (SD = 12.39)) from the Cambridge Autism Research Database (CARD) were each divided into two groups: with or without siblings. Empathy was measured using the children version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) (parent-report) for children. For adults, the EQ (self-report version) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) were used. Contrary to the hypothesis, autistic children without siblings scored higher on EQ than those with siblings (t(283.70) = 4.20, p < .001; d = 0.50). In adults, there was no difference between autistic adults with and without siblings on both measures, but there was an interaction effect between sex and group on the RMET (f(1732) = 4.10, p = 0.04): whilst autistic males without siblings on average scored lower than females, autistic males with siblings on average performed similarly to females. Future research should investigate the possible effect of siblings on autistic males' empathy performance in a larger cohort of autistic individuals. Children's empathic abilities may be underestimated by their parents when they have siblings due to a contrast effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonat Rum
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
| | - Ofer Golan
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Carrie Allison
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Paula Smith
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Simon R White
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Rum Y, Genzer S, Markovitch N, Jenkins J, Perry A, Knafo-Noam A. Are there positive effects of having a sibling with special needs? Empathy and prosociality of twins of children with non-typical development. Child Dev 2022; 93:1121-1128. [PMID: 35194782 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study examined whether typically developing (TD) twins of non-TD children demonstrate enhanced empathy and prosociality. Of 778 Hebrew-speaking Israeli families who participated in a twin study, 63 were identified to have a non-TD child with a TD twin, and 404 as having both twins TD. TD twins of non-TD children (27% males) were compared to the rest of the cohort of TD children (46% males) on measures of empathy and prosociality. Participants were 11 years old. TD twins of non-TD children scored significantly higher than TD twins of TD children in a measure of cognitive empathy (d = .43). No differences were found in emotional empathy and prosociality. The specificity of the positive effect on cognitive empathy is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonat Rum
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Shir Genzer
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | | | - Anat Perry
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Li Y, Wei Z, Shao M, Hong M, Yang D, Luo L, Meng J. Empathy for pain in individuals with autistic traits during observation of static and dynamic stimuli. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1022087. [PMID: 36465286 PMCID: PMC9709309 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1022087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have reported that individuals with autistic traits, like those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), may have impaired empathic responses when observing static stimuli of others' pain. However, it remains unclear whether individuals with autistic traits exhibit impaired empathy for pain in response to dynamic stimuli. The present study addressed this question by recruiting 529 individuals whose autistic traits were assessed using the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) questionnaire. Thirty participants who scored within the top 10% and bottom 10% on the AQ were selected into High-AQ and Low-AQ groups, respectively. This study employed painful whole-body action pictures and videos as static and dynamic stimuli. Both groups were instructed to judge whether the models in the stimuli were experiencing pain, and their reaction times, accuracy and event-related potential (ERP) data were recorded. Results showed that the P2 amplitudes were larger in the High-AQ group than in the Low-AQ group when viewing painful static stimuli, while no difference between the two groups was found when viewing painful dynamic stimuli. These results suggest that autistic traits influenced the emotional processing of others' pain in response to static stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanting Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Zilong Wei
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Min Shao
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Mingyu Hong
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Di Yang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Longli Luo
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jing Meng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China.,Research Center for Brain and Cognitive Science, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
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Vilas SP, Reniers RLEP, Ludlow AK. An Investigation of Behavioural and Self-Reported Cognitive Empathy Deficits in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Adolescents With Behavioural Difficulties. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:717877. [PMID: 34975557 PMCID: PMC8719354 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.717877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Deficits in empathy have been considered hallmarks in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) but are also considered to underlie antisocial behaviour associated with individuals with callous unemotional traits (CU). Research has suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorders show more difficulties with cognitive empathy, and that individuals diagnosed with behaviours difficulties, characterised by CU traits and antisocial behaviour, demonstrate low affective empathy. In the current manuscript we present findings of two studies. The first study describes the validation of a new stimulus set developed for the empathic accuracy task, focused on its cognitive component. The second study compares the performance of 27 adolescents with ASD, 27 age matched typically developing adolescents and 17 adolescents with behavioural difficulties on the empathic accuracy task and a self-report measure of empathy. While, no differences were observed between the three groups across the empathy accuracy task, the adolescents with ASD and CD showed deficits in their cognitive empathy across the self-report measure. Adolescents with ASD showed lower scores in particularly their perspective taking abilities, whereas the adolescences with behavioural difficulties showed more difficulties with their online simulation. No differences in self-reported affective empathy across the three groups were observed. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara P Vilas
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.,Department of Psychology, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Renate L E P Reniers
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.,Institute of Clinical Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.,Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Amanda K Ludlow
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.,School of Psychology, Sports and Geography, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
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