Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May;50(5):1470-1478.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3693-8.

Exploring the Role of Empathy in Understanding the Social-Cognitive Profile for Individuals Referred for Autism Spectrum Disorders Assessment in Adulthood

Victoria Russ  1 , Hanna Kovshoff  2 , Tony Brown  3 , Patricia Abbott  3 , Julie A Hadwin  2
Affiliations

Exploring the Role of Empathy in Understanding the Social-Cognitive Profile for Individuals Referred for Autism Spectrum Disorders Assessment in Adulthood

Victoria Russ et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 May.

Abstract

This study explored the social-cognitive profile of 173 adults referred for an autism assessment. We considered key dimensional traits (autism, empathy and systemising) to understand social cognition in adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition compared with those who were referred for, but did not receive a diagnosis. There were no significant social cognitive differences between groups on measures of emotion recognition and social inference. Adults with a confirmed diagnosis, however, reported fewer empathising traits which were positively associated with social-cognitive understanding. Empathising partially mediated the relationship between diagnostic group and social-cognition. Lower empathising traits in individuals diagnosed in adulthood may be important in understanding challenges with social adaptability. The findings have implications for assessment and highlight the role of empathy in developing social understanding in autism.

Keywords: Adults; Autism spectrum disorder; Diagnosis; Neuropsychology; Social cognition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Victoria Russ, Hanna Kovshoff, Tony Brown, Patricia Abbott, and Julie A. Hadwin declares that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mediation analyses exploring the relationship between diagnostic group (ASD confirmed and ASD disconfirmed) and emotion understanding via mediated self-reported empathising traits. Indirect effect, b = − .36, 95% CI [− 1.06 to − .029] (b = − .5.79, p = − .025) (b = .062, p = .03). Direct effect, b = − .080, p = .93
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Aggarwal S, Angus B. Misdiagnosis versus missed diagnosis: Diagnosing autism spectrum disorder in adolescents. Australas Psychiatry. 2015;23(2):120–123. doi: 10.1177/1039856214568214. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allison C, Auyeng B, Baron-Cohen S. Toward brief “red flags” for Autism screening: The short autism spectrum quotient and the short quantitative checklist in 1,000 cases and 3,000 controls. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2012;51(2):202–212. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2011.11.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allison C, Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Stone M, Muncer S. Psychometric analysis of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) Personality and Individual Differences. 2011;51:829–835. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.005. - DOI
    1. American Psychiatric Association . . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
    1. Baez S, Ibanez A. The effects of context processing on social cognition impairments in adults with Asperger Syndrome. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2014;8(270):1–9. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00270. - DOI - PMC - PubMed