Do adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome differ in empathy and emotion recognition?

Montgomery, Charlotte B., Allison, Carrie, Lai, Meng-Chuan, Cassidy, Sarah, Langdon, Peter E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7745-1825 and Baron-Cohen, Simon (2016) Do adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome differ in empathy and emotion recognition? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46 (6). pp. 1931-1940. ISSN 0162-3257

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Abstract

The present study examined whether adults with high functioning autism (HFA) showed greater difficulties in (1) their self-reported ability to empathise with others and/or (2) their ability to read mental states in others’ eyes than adults with Asperger syndrome (AS). The Empathy Quotient (EQ) and ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) were compared in 43 adults with AS and 43 adults with HFA. No significant difference was observed on EQ score between groups, while adults with AS performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than those with HFA. This suggests that adults with HFA may need more support, particularly in mentalizing and complex emotion recognition, and raises questions about the existence of subgroups within autism spectrum conditions.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: autism,asperger,empathy,dsm-5
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Psychological Sciences (former - to 2018)
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2016 09:29
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 00:56
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/57509
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2698-4

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