title: Brief Report: An Observational Measure of Empathy for Autism Spectrum: A Preliminary Study of the Development and Reliability of the Client Emotional Processing Scale.
abstract: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can have difficulties in emotion processing, including recognising their own and others' emotions, leading to problems in emotion regulation and interpersonal relating. This study reports the development and piloting of the Client Emotional Processing Scale-Autism Spectrum (CEPS-AS), a new observer measure of four interrelated aspects of emotional processing: emotion recognition, self-reflection, cognitive empathy, and affective empathy. Results showed good interrater reliability (alpha: .69-.91), while inter-dimension associations were high (r = .66-.82). The measure was able to detect significant differences on the four dimensions across a short-term humanistic-experiential group therapy. The CEPS-AS shows promise as a potential addition to current self-report instruments measuring empathy or emotion processes in individuals with ASD.
authors: Centre for Autism, School of Education, University of Strathclyde, Room 636b, Curran Building, 141 St James Road, Glasgow, G4 0LT, Scotland, UK. anna.robinson@strath.ac.uk.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Robinson
authors: Counselling Unit, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1QE, Scotland, UK.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Elliott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000071441:Emotion-Focused Therapy; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autism spectrum; Emotional processing; Empathy; Observer measure