Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Brief Report: Empathic Responsiveness of High Functioning Children with Autism to Expressed and Anticipated Distress

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The majority of studies that have investigated empathic responsiveness of individuals with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have used heterogeneous groups in terms of age, cognitive level and gender which significantly impact the results. Our aim in this study was to explore responsiveness of a more homogenous sample of 21 children with ASD and 17 typically developing controls, aged 8–12 years to both overt (or expressed) and anticipated distress. In the anticipated distress task, groups were not differentiated in their response towards the experimenter who had her drawing torn. In the expressed distress task, groups were again similar in expressing concern and acting prosocially towards an experimenter who pretended to lose her watch. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders Revised (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auyeung, B., Wheelwright, S., Allison, C., Atkinson, M., Samarawickrema, N., & Baron- Cohen, S. (2009). The children’s empathy quotient and systemising quotient: Sex differences in typical development and in autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(11), 1509–1521.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, A. L., Fein, D., Morris, R., Waterhouse, L., & Allen, D. (1998). The responses of autistic children to the distress of others. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28(2), 129–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, R., Rieffe, C., Terwogt, M. M., Gerlein, A. M., & Voutsina, M. (2006). Popular and rejected children’s reasoning regarding negative emotions in social situations: The role of gender. Social Development, 15(3), 418–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient (EQ): An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 163–175.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Begeer, S., Koot, H. M., Rieffe, C., Meerum Terwogt, M., & Stegge, H. (2008). Emotional competence in children with autism: Diagnostic criteria and empirical evidence. Developmental Review, 28, 342–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, R. J. R. (1999). Psychophysiological responsiveness to the distress of others in children with autism. Personality and Individual Differences, 26(3), 477–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 54–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decety, J., & Sommerville, J. A. (2003). Shared representations between self and other: A social cognitive neuroscience view. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 527–533.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dissanayake, C., Sigman, M., & Kasari, C. (1996). Long-term stability of individual differences in the emotional responsiveness of children with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37(4), 461–467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dissanayake, C., & Taylor, M. (2002). Social understanding and social responsiveness in children with high functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder. Paper presented at the Inaugural World Autism Congress, Melbourne.

  • Dunfield, K. A., & Kuhlmeier, V. A. (2013). Classifying prosocial behaviour: Children’s responses to instrumental need, emotional distress, and material desire. Child Development, 84(5), 1766–1776.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dziobek, I., Rogers, K., Fleck, S., Bahnemann, M., Heekeren, H. R., Wolf, O. T., et al. (2008). Dissociation of cognitive and emotional empathy in adults with asperger syndrome using the multifaceted empathy test (MET). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(3), 464–473.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1990). Empathy: Conceptualization, measurement, and relation to prosocial behaviour. Motivation and Emotion, 14(2), 131–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaigg, S. B. (2012). The interplay between emotion and cognition in autism spectrum disorder: Implications for developmental theory. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 6, 113.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hirstein, W., Iversen, P., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2001). Autonomic responses of autistic children to people and objects. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 268, 1883–1888.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson, J. A., Harris, R., García-Pérez, R., & Hobson, R. P. (2009). Anticipatory concern: A study in autism. Developmental Science, 12(2), 240–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. L. (1977). Sex differences in empathy and related behaviours. Psychological Bulletin, 84(4), 712–722.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hutman, T., Rozga, A., DeLaurentis, A. D., Barnwell, J. M., Sugar, C. A., & Sigman, M. (2010). Response to distress in infants at risk for autism: A prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 1010–1020.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P. C., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—WPS (ADOS-WPS). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, N., & Messinger, D. (2012). Empathic responding in toddlers at risk for an autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(8), 1566–1573.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McGovern, C. W., & Sigman, M. (2005). Continuity and change from early childhood to adolescence in autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(4), 401–408.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nuske, H. J., Vivanti, G., & Dissanayake, C. (2013). Are emotion impairments unique to, universal, or specific in autism spectrum disorder? A comprehensive review. Cognition and Emotion, 27(6), 1042–1061.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Psychological Corporation. (1999). Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., Bailey, A., & Lord, C. (2003). The social communication questionnaire. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheeren, A. M., Koot, H. M., Mundy, P. C., Mous, L., & Begeer, S. (2013). Empathic responsiveness of children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 6(5), 362–371.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M. D., Kasari, C., Kwon, J., & Yirmiya, N. (1992). Responses to the negative emotions of others by autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children. Child Development, 63(4), 796–807.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (2009). The empathy imbalance hypothesis of autism: A theoretical approach to cognitive and emotional empathy in autistic development. The Psychological Record, 59(2), 273–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Travis, L., Sigman, M., & Ruskin, E. (2001). Links between social understanding and social behaviour in verbally able children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31(2), 119–130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Uljarević, M., & Hamilton, A. (2013). Recognition of emotions in autism: A formal meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 43(7), 1517–1526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaish, A., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Sympathy through affective perspective taking and its relation to prosocial behavior in toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 534–543.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wakabayashi, A., Baron-Cohen, S., Uchiyama, T., Yoshida, Y., Kuroda, M., & Wheelwright, S. (2007). Empathising and systemising in adults with and without autism spectrum conditions: Cross-cultural stability. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(10), 1823–1832.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeman, J., Cassano, M., Perry-Parrish, C., & Stegall, S. (2006). Emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Journal of Behavioural and Developmental Pediatrics, 27(2), 155–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author Contributions

AN and CD designed and conducted the study. MU and AN analyzed the data. MU, AN and GV drafted the manuscript. All authors commented on the draft and approved the submission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Amanda Newbigin, Mirko Uljarević, Giacomo Vivanti & Cheryl Dissanayake

  2. Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Mirko Uljarević

  3. Early Detection and Intervention Program, A. J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Giacomo Vivanti

Authors
  1. Amanda Newbigin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mirko Uljarević
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giacomo Vivanti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cheryl Dissanayake
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mirko Uljarević.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

A. N., M. U., G. V., and C. D. declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This research was approved by the La Trobe University Human Ethics Committee (HEC 07-146). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The research reported here was undertaken as part of the PhD candidature of the first author (AN) under the supervision of the final author (CD).

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Amanda Newbigin and Mirko Uljarević are joint first authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Newbigin, A., Uljarević, M., Vivanti, G. et al. Brief Report: Empathic Responsiveness of High Functioning Children with Autism to Expressed and Anticipated Distress. J Autism Dev Disord 46, 3338–3343 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2862-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2862-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation