Do children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) recognize and describe his/her own emotions appropriately? A survey of school-aged children with ASD in Japan (I)

Background: Studies have revealed that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have an impairment in identifying other’s emotion. However, few studies have ever addressed whether they are also limited in recognizing and describing the emotions elicited inside themselves.

Objectives: The present study aimed at elucidating whether children with ASD recognize and describe his/her own emotions differently from age-matched typically developed children using a questionnaire we developed.

Methods: We recruited 41 children with ASD and 205 age-matched control children (8 to 12 years). The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire, where six situations were prepared to elicit specific emotions (e.g. delight, anger, sadness). Then, the participants were asked to describe in a free text form how they feel when facing with each of the 6 situations. Two children with ASD and 14 control children were excluded from the analyses because no texts were provided. We analyzed the texts from three viewpoints: a) whether any kind of emotions appropriate for the situation are included (an examination of appropriateness), b) whether any words identifying a specific emotion are included (an examination of appropriate use of words conveying emotional contents), c) whether any colloquial expressions are included (an examination of emotional involvement).

Results: We found that children with ASD and typically developed children both provided emotionally appropriate expressions with an equal frequency. However, children with ASD were more likely to use colloquial expressions in some situations (e.g. “You got a birthday present”), and less likely to in other situations (e.g. “A friend of yours teased you”).

Conclusions: The results implied that, although children with ASD are not limited in recognizing his/her own emotions appropriately, they may describe his/her own emotion differently from typically developed children.