Autistic Traits and Empathy for Others' Pain Among the General Population: Test of the Mediating Effects of First-Hand Pain Sensitivity.
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| Title: | Autistic Traits and Empathy for Others' Pain Among the General Population: Test of the Mediating Effects of First-Hand Pain Sensitivity. |
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| Authors: | Zhang, Wenyun, Zhuo, Shiwei, Li, Xiaoyun, Peng, Weiwei |
| Source: | Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. May2023, Vol. 53 Issue 5, p2006-2020. 15p. 2 Diagrams, 3 Charts, 2 Graphs. |
| Subjects: | Empathy, Pain measurement, Cognition, Attitudes toward illness, Autism, Research funding, Alexithymia, Emotions |
| Geographic Terms: | China |
| Abstract: | Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by reduced pain empathy—a process that is grounded in first-hand pain perception. Because autistic traits are continuously distributed in the general population, we hypothesized that first-hand pain sensitivity would mediate the link between autistic traits and pain empathy. After controlling for alexithymia, higher autistic traits were associated with lower cognitive and emotional empathy in response to others' pain, as well as lower sensitivity to cold and heat pain (higher cold pain tolerance and lower laser heat pain-intensity ratings). Importantly, pain sensitivity fully mediated the link between autistic traits and pain empathy. These findings highlight the role of atypical first-hand pain sensitivity in the lack of pain empathy observed in people with high autistic traits or ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by reduced pain empathy—a process that is grounded in first-hand pain perception. Because autistic traits are continuously distributed in the general population, we hypothesized that first-hand pain sensitivity would mediate the link between autistic traits and pain empathy. After controlling for alexithymia, higher autistic traits were associated with lower cognitive and emotional empathy in response to others' pain, as well as lower sensitivity to cold and heat pain (higher cold pain tolerance and lower laser heat pain-intensity ratings). Importantly, pain sensitivity fully mediated the link between autistic traits and pain empathy. These findings highlight the role of atypical first-hand pain sensitivity in the lack of pain empathy observed in people with high autistic traits or ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 01623257 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10803-022-05471-9 |
