Abstract
People on the autism spectrum may have difficulty inferring others’ emotions (cognitive empathy), but may share another’s emotions (affective empathy) and exhibit heightened personal distress. The present study examined independent autistic trait dimensions (social difficulties and restricted/repetitive behaviours) and the roles alexithymia and trait anxiety have in explaining this profile of empathy. Results from the general population (n = 301) revealed that pronounced social difficulties and not restricted/repetitive behaviours related to reduced cognitive and affective empathy, and heightened personal distress. However, both dimensions, through alexithymia and anxiety, indirectly influenced empathy. Surprisingly, while the dimensions indirectly improved affective empathy, pronounced social difficulties directly reduced affective empathy. This study motivates a nuanced model of empathy by including autistic trait dimensions, anxiety, and alexithymia.
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The authors acknowledge the support provided by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend to Jack Brett and by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant to Murray Maybery (DP190103286).
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JDB and MTM jointly conceived the study, and provided input into the study design and materials. Data collection and analysis were carried out by JDB with oversight from MTM. JDB wrote the manuscript with MTM providing critical revisions.
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Brett, J.D., Maybery, M.T. Understanding Oneself to Understand Others: The Role of Alexithymia and Anxiety in the Relationships Between Autistic Trait Dimensions and Empathy. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 1971–1983 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05086-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05086-6