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Empathic Behavior and Behavioral Synchrony During Video Conversations in Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents
Ester Zadok1, Zohar Ben-Moshe1, Ilanit Gordon1,2
1Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
|June 14, 2025
Summary
Autistic adolescents exhibit reduced behavioral synchrony and empathy during social interactions. These differences in synchrony, crucial for social connection, were observed even when emotion recognition abilities were similar.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Interaction
Background:
- Behavioral synchrony facilitates social interaction and empathic behavior.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with altered social and empathic behaviors.
- Ecological studies on behavioral synchrony in autistic adolescents are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate behavioral synchrony and empathic behaviors in autistic male adolescents during a video-based social interaction.
- To compare synchrony and empathy levels between autistic and non-autistic adolescents.
Main Methods:
- A video-based social interaction paradigm was used with 50 male adolescents (23 autistic) and a non-autistic confederate.
- Included a friendly conversation and an expression of discouragement.
- Socio-emotional behaviors were assessed via trained raters and automated facial expression analysis.
Main Results:
- Autistic adolescents displayed significantly reduced behavioral synchrony compared to non-autistic peers.
- Fewer empathic behaviors were observed in interactions involving autistic adolescents.
- Emotion recognition abilities did not explain the observed differences in synchrony or empathy.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral synchrony plays a critical role in the social interaction challenges faced by autistic adolescents.
- Findings highlight the importance of synchrony in understanding social disparities in autism.
- Interventions targeting behavioral synchrony may improve social functioning in autistic individuals.
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