Abstract
Despite the important social functions of moral emotions, they are understudied in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. This three-wave longitudinal study is among the first to examine the development of moral emotions and their associations with theory of mind in 3- to 7-year-old children with ASD, using observational tasks. One hundred and forty-two children (52 with ASD) were followed over a period of 2 years. We found that while the expressions of shame and guilt remained stable in non-ASD children, they decreased with age in children with ASD. No group differences were found in the levels or the developmental trajectories of pride. Besides, better false-belief understanding was uniquely related to the expressions of pride in children with ASD. Our findings highlight the importance of enhancing understanding of moral emotion development and related factors in children with ASD.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2100097 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1108-1118 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Development and Psychopathology |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank all participating children, parents, and schools. This research was financially supported by the Care for the Young: Innovation and Development program by ZonMw (Grant Number 80-82430-98-8025) and by Fonds NutsOhra (Grant Number 0903-055).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
