Young children with high levels of autistic traits may show some alterations in self-conscious emotions

A new study published in Child Development explores the relationship between autistic traits, theory of mind abilities, and self-conscious emotions in children. The researchers examined whether autistic traits were associated with deficits in theory of mind, meaning the ability to understand others’ mental states and predict their behaviors, and whether these deficits were related to the experience of self-conscious emotions, specifically shame-like avoidance. The results indicate that children with higher levels of autistic traits showed deficits in theory of mind. Additionally, autistic trai...