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Thursday, May 7, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
12:00 PM
Background: Empathic response is impaired in preschool-age and older children with autism (Sigman, Kasari, Kwon & Yirmiya, 1992; Yirmiya, Kasari, Sigman & Mundy, 1992). However, little is known about the development of empathy in infants who are subsequently diagnosed with autism, relative to infants who develop typically.
Objectives: To examine empathic response at 12, 18, and 24 months among siblings of children with autism who subsequently received an autism diagnosis (ASD), siblings who developed typically (high-risk TD), and typically developing control group infants (low-risk TD). We examined the developmental trajectory of empathic responsiveness in the three groups and explored links with language skills.
Methods: Participants included 103 infant siblings of children with autism and 55 infants with no family history of autism. 14 children in the high-risk group developed an ASD by 36 months, as determined by the ADOS and clinicians’ judgment. Children’s reactions to an examiner’s display of pain were evaluated at 12, 18, and 24 months and coded for interest and concern using four-point Likert scales.
Results:
Empathy scores (0-3) were cross-tabulated with group membership (ASD, high-risk TD, low-risk TD) for both the interest and concern scales. Chi-square analyses confirmed an association between group and empathic response scores for both scales at all 3 time points (all ps < 0.01).
For the second set of analyses, empathy scales were collapsed to form dichotomous variables. Ratings of 0 or 1 were classified as low interest or low concern; ratings of 2 and 3 were classified high interest or high concern. Score patterns across time-points were cross-tabulated with group membership. An association between group and pattern was detected for interest (χ2(14) = 61.90, p < .0001), but not for concern. Infants who developed an ASD tended to show lower interest scores and little improvement, whereas both high- and low-risk TD groups showed improvement or they had high scores across all three time points.
Predictors of achieving higher levels of interest and concern were examined using logistical regression analysis. Group membership predicted achievement of high interest (p = .0007) and high concern (p = .0009), even when verbal ability was included in the model. Both TD groups performed significantly better than the ASD group. Age was not a significant predictor of empathic response.
Conclusions: Impaired empathic response, indicated by decreased level of interest and concern with respect to an examiner’s display of pain, is evident by the age of twelve months in children who are subsequently diagnosed with an ASD. Differences in developmental trajectory of empathic response are in evidence at least through the second birthday, with infants diagnosed with ASD failing to show improvement in empathic response over time.
Funding: NIH/NIMH Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) Grant# U54-MH-068172 (Marian Sigman, P.I.)
Objectives: To examine empathic response at 12, 18, and 24 months among siblings of children with autism who subsequently received an autism diagnosis (ASD), siblings who developed typically (high-risk TD), and typically developing control group infants (low-risk TD). We examined the developmental trajectory of empathic responsiveness in the three groups and explored links with language skills.
Methods: Participants included 103 infant siblings of children with autism and 55 infants with no family history of autism. 14 children in the high-risk group developed an ASD by 36 months, as determined by the ADOS and clinicians’ judgment. Children’s reactions to an examiner’s display of pain were evaluated at 12, 18, and 24 months and coded for interest and concern using four-point Likert scales.
Results:
Empathy scores (0-3) were cross-tabulated with group membership (ASD, high-risk TD, low-risk TD) for both the interest and concern scales. Chi-square analyses confirmed an association between group and empathic response scores for both scales at all 3 time points (all ps < 0.01).
For the second set of analyses, empathy scales were collapsed to form dichotomous variables. Ratings of 0 or 1 were classified as low interest or low concern; ratings of 2 and 3 were classified high interest or high concern. Score patterns across time-points were cross-tabulated with group membership. An association between group and pattern was detected for interest (χ2(14) = 61.90, p < .0001), but not for concern. Infants who developed an ASD tended to show lower interest scores and little improvement, whereas both high- and low-risk TD groups showed improvement or they had high scores across all three time points.
Predictors of achieving higher levels of interest and concern were examined using logistical regression analysis. Group membership predicted achievement of high interest (p = .0007) and high concern (p = .0009), even when verbal ability was included in the model. Both TD groups performed significantly better than the ASD group. Age was not a significant predictor of empathic response.
Conclusions: Impaired empathic response, indicated by decreased level of interest and concern with respect to an examiner’s display of pain, is evident by the age of twelve months in children who are subsequently diagnosed with an ASD. Differences in developmental trajectory of empathic response are in evidence at least through the second birthday, with infants diagnosed with ASD failing to show improvement in empathic response over time.
Funding: NIH/NIMH Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) Grant# U54-MH-068172 (Marian Sigman, P.I.)