Individuals with high levels of autistic traits exhibit impaired cognitive but not affective theory of mind and empathy

作者：Bei‐lin Le, Yi‐hang Huang, Lingling Wang, Hui‐xin Hu, Xuan Wang, Yi Wang, Ya Wang, Jia Huang, Simon S. Y. Lui, Raymond C. K. Chan · 发表于：PsyCh Journal · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/pchj.727 · 被引用次数：11 · 研究领域：Autism Spectrum Disorder Research、Behavioral and Psychological Studies、Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders

Theory of mind (ToM) and empathy are considered key components of social cognition that are often impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, it remains unclear whether individuals with high levels of autistic traits exhibit similar impairments in these two functions. This study examined the affective and cognitive domains of ToM and empathy in individuals with high levels of autistic traits. We recruited 84 participants with high levels and 78 participants with low levels of autistic traits to complete a set of self-reported checklists and performance-based tasks capturing affective and cognitive components of ToM and empathy. The results showed that participants with high levels of autistic traits exhibited significant impairments in cognitive but not in affective ToM and empathy compared with their counterparts with low levels of autistic traits. We also found that empathy impairments in people with high levels of autistic traits were confounded by alexithymia and depressive traits.