Autistic traits and self-conscious emotions in early childhood.

Researchers watched 98 young children (ages 2-5) play with a toy that was designed to 'break' during play. They found that children with more autism-like behaviors showed less understanding of what others might think or feel, and were more likely to avoid the situation when the toy broke. However, they didn't show differences in all emotional responses - just some of them. This could affect how these children interact socially with others.

This observational study examined self-conscious emotions in 98 children aged 2-5 years with varying levels of autistic traits. Children participated in a controlled scenario where they 'broke' an experimenter's toy, and researchers observed their emotional responses including guilt, embarrassment, and shame-like avoidance. Results showed that children with more autistic traits demonstrated reduced theory of mind abilities and increased shame-like avoidance behaviors, though theory of mind did not mediate this relationship. Interestingly, not all self-conscious emotions were affected equally, suggesting selective differences in emotional processing among children with autistic traits that may impact their social development and interactions.

Findings suggest targeted interventions for shame-like responses and avoidance behaviors may benefit children with autistic traits. Assessment of self-conscious emotions could inform therapeutic approaches. Results indicate that addressing theory of mind alone may not resolve all emotional processing differences in autism.

Small sample size (N=98) limits generalizability. Single observational task may not capture full range of self-conscious emotions. Predominantly White sample (92%) reduces diversity. Cross-sectional design prevents causal inferences about developmental trajectories of emotional responses.

Self-conscious emotions arise from evaluating the self through the eyes of others. Given that children with autistic traits may experience difficulties with understanding others' minds, they might show less attuned self-conscious emotions. Two-to-five-year-old children's (N = 98, M = 48.54 months, 50% girls, 92% White) self-conscious emotions (guilt, embarrassment, and shame-like avoidance) were observed after children "broke" the experimenter's favorite toy. Data were collected from March 2018 till June 2019.

Children with more autistic traits showed less theory of mind (ToM), and more shame-like avoidance, but associations were not mediated by ToM. This provides initial evidence that children with more autistic traits may show disturbances in some but not all self-conscious emotions, which could hinder their social functioning.