Self-reported empathy in adults with autism, early psychosis, and social anxiety disorder

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2019-11, Vol.281, p.112604-112604, Article 112604
• Main Authors: Pepper, Karen L., Demetriou, Eleni A., Park, Shin Ho, Boulton, Kelsie A., Hickie, Ian B., Thomas, Emma E., Guastella, Adam J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Empathy - physiology; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Phobia, Social - diagnosis; Phobia, Social - psychology; Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; Self Report; Social Skills; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112604

•Autistic social anxiety and early psychosis participants rate their empathy on all scales poorly.•Results suggest ratings are influenced by both social anxiety and social-cognitive impairments. Cognitive empathy was rated more poory by people with ASD. The clinical groups were othwerwise not differentiated.•Ratings are likely influenced by both social anxiety and social cognitive difficulties.•Objective and self-report measures are needed to better understand empathy in individuals. The Empathy Quotient (EQ) self-report questionnaire is used to measure empathy in individuals with clinical conditions that have been associated with social impairments. In this study, older teens and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 60), early psychosis (EP; N = 51) and social anxiety disorder (SAD; N = 71) and neurotypical controls (NT; N = 26) were compared on the cognitive empathy, emotional reactivity and social skills sub-scales of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) measure. All three clinical groups reported lower cognitive empathy than NT controls, and the ASD group reported lower cognitive empathy than EP and SAD groups. The ASD group reported lower emotional reactivity than the SAD group. All three clinical groups reported lower social skills that NT controls. The poor self-rated empathy for the ASD and EP groups generally reflects previous research that found individuals with these conditions perform relatively poorly on certain objective measures of empathy. However, the poor self-rated cognitive empathy and social skills for the SAD group conflicts with previous research that has found that SAD groups perform well on objective measures of empathy. This suggests that both EQ and objective measures should be used to fully assess empathy in clinical groups.