Abstract
Background
Previous studies have provided different perspectives on empathy and alexithymia in siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, and these abilities are often uniquely challenged. This study was conducted to investigate the levels of empathy and alexithymia and to identify the differences of these psychological constructs in adolescent siblings of ASD patients compared to the control group.
Methods
a quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted on two groups of people between the ages of 12 and 15 years. IRI-short test was used to evaluate empathy and TAS-20 test was used to measure Alexithymia.
Results
This study showed a significant difference in emotional competencies between the two groups. siblings with ASD showed higher levels of alexithymia (P < 0/05, r = 0.56) and lower levels of empathy compared to siblings of typically developing individuals (P < 0/05, r = 0.46). These findings suggest that having a sibling with ASD may negatively affect emotional processing and the development of empathy in siblings.
Conclusions
This study points to the effect of the behavioral characteristics of an autistic person on the level of alexithymia and empathy of siblings, and on the one hand, emphasizes the importance of considering the boarder phenotype of autism while dealing with welfare and well-being interventions.