Empathic Behavior and Behavioral Synchrony During Video Conversations in Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents

Behavioral synchrony is an important component of successful social interaction. Synchronization of facial expressions during interaction is considered a facilitator of empathic behavior. Autistic individuals show alterations in synchronous and empathic behaviors. Yet, an ecological examination of these among adolescents is needed. Through a video-based platform, we employed a social interaction sequence with a nonautistic confederate that included a friendly conversation and an expression of discouragement. 50 male adolescents (23 autistic) participated. Socio-emotional behaviors, assessed by naïve trained raters and by automated measure of facial expressions, were analyzed. Results indicated reduced synchrony in interactions with autistic adolescents, compared to non-autistic adolescents, as well as fewer empathic behaviors. Participants’ emotion recognition abilities did not account for these differences. Our findings point to the central role of behavioral synchrony in the social disparities autistic adolescents often experience.