Reactive/proactive aggression and affective/cognitive empathy in children with ASD.
Empathy training for kids with ASD needs emotion regulation support or it may backfire.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers compared the kids. Half had ASD, half were typical peers.
They measured two kinds of aggression: reactive (hitting when upset) and proactive (planned bullying).
They also tested two kinds of empathy: feeling another's pain (affective) and understanding their thoughts (cognitive).
What they found
Typical kids showed the expected pattern: more empathy meant less reactive aggression.
Kids with ASD flipped the script: higher affective empathy linked to more reactive aggression.
Proactive aggression and cognitive empathy showed no clear pattern in either group.
How this fits with other research
Kose et al. (2025) extends this work to teens. They found empathy still predicts social skills, but now in older kids.
Byrne et al. (2025) broadens the lens. They show empathy works differently across Down syndrome, ID, and Williams syndrome.
Sivaraman (2017) offers a solution. His study proves we can teach empathy to kids with ASD using multiple examples.
Together these papers suggest the empathy-aggression link isn't fixed. Training can change it.
Why it matters
Don't assume empathy training alone will reduce hitting. For kids with ASD, feeling others' pain may overwhelm them and spark reactive aggression. Pair empathy lessons with emotion regulation skills like deep breathing or break cards. Test both behaviors before and after training to see if the paradox holds for your client.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The main aim of this study was to examine the extent to which affective and cognitive empathy were associated with reactive and proactive aggression, and whether these associations differed between children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children. The study included 133 children (67 ASD, 66 TD, Mage=139 months), who filled out self-report questionnaires. The main findings showed that the association between reactive aggression and affective empathy was negative in TD children, but positive in children with ASD. The outcomes support the idea that a combination of poor emotion regulation and impaired understanding of others' emotions is associated with aggressive behavior in children with ASD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.12.022