Spontaneous helping behavior of autistic and non-autistic (Pre-)adolescents: A matter of motivation?

ABSTRACT: Young autistic people have a range of social difficulties, but it is not yet clear how these difficulties can be explained. In addition, emerging research is suggesting that autistic girls may differ from boys in terms of their social behaviors, but yet unknown is if they differ in terms of their pro-social behavior, such as helping. The present study investigated spontaneous helping behavior using an in vivo paradigm and related this to participants' levels of social motivation (based on parent reports). Participants were 233 autistic and non-autistic (pre-)adolescents (M = 12.46 years, SD = 15.54 months). Our results demonstrated that autistic girls and boys have lower levels of social motivation compared to their non-autistic peers, but social motivation was unrelated to helping behavio

SUBMITTER: O'Connor RAG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6916565 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature