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

The study was observational and children were not randomly assigned, so it cannot show that autism caused the difference in helping. The experimenter knew which group each child was in and coded behavior during the session, so expectation bias may have affected the results. The helping difference was small, and most autistic participants helped, so the finding should not be read as a general deficit in pro-social behavior. The autistic girls were a small, average-IQ, already-diagnosed subgroup, so results may not apply to autistic girls who are undiagnosed or who mask difficulties. Social motivation came from parent report, which may reflect social anxiety or inhibition rather than the child's own motivation. The task involved an unfamiliar adult, not a peer or family member, so everyday helping behavior may differ. Some analyses had fewer participants because of missing data, and the data did not meet some assumptions of the tests, so the researchers used a stricter significance cut-off.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The paper notes non-U.S. government research support.

Do not conclude that autistic young people are generally less pro-social or that lower social motivation explains reduced helping. The helping difference was small, most participants helped, and helping was not linked to social motivation.