Does Having a Sibling Affect Autistic People's Empathy?
Yonat Rum, Ofer Golan, Carrie Allison and 3 others
PMID 37934396WHAT IT FOUND
Parents reported autistic children without siblings as more empathic than those with siblings, but autistic adults showed no difference in self-reported or task-based empathy.
The child finding likely reflects parents comparing their autistic child to siblings rather than a real empathy gap.
Key findings
01Autistic children without siblings had higher parent-reported empathy scores than those with siblings.
02There was no difference in empathy between autistic adults with and without siblings on self-report or performance tasks.
03The higher empathy scores in only children may be due to parents comparing their autistic child unfavorably to non-autistic siblings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is a secondary analysis of existing data, so it could not control for factors like the quality of the sibling relationship, age gaps, or the siblings' own traits. Empathy in children was measured only by parent report, which is subject to contrast effects where parents exaggerate differences between their children. The adult cohort consisted only of those able to complete online tasks, limiting generalizability to autistic adults with higher support needs. The study excluded individuals with autistic siblings, so it does not capture the dynamics of families with multiple autistic members.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that having siblings reduces empathy in autistic people. The difference found in children is likely a reporting bias by parents comparing their autistic child to non-autistic siblings, not a true deficit. In adults, no such difference was found.