The ecological aspects related to empathy in ASD

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future-work section and stated challenges and limitations and discussion and stated research gap of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2025 and 2026, spanning 4 journals. Those papers have been cited 22 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 8 representative gaps

• Modulating empathy with tDCS: dissociable roles of rTPJ and lDLPFC (2026) · Psychological Medicine · doi

  Investigate the effects of different types of tDCS (e.g., cathodal, bilateral) on empathy. Examine the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of rTPJ and lDLPFC stimulation on empathy. Explore the potential of tDCS as a therapeutic tool for enhancing empathy in clinical populations. Investigate the effects of tDCS on empathy in different contexts and modalities

  generalfuture-work section
  Keywords: investigate effects different types tdcs cathodal bilateral empathy
• (State) empathy: how context matters (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · cited 22× · doi

  the complexity of empathy as a capacity with expressions that are situated within and influenced by contextual factors; the difficulty of disentangling trait and state empathy; the challenge of developing standardized measures of empathy that integrate both trait and state aspects; the need to consider the interaction between trait capacities and state-related factors for individual empathic responses.

  generalstated challenges
  Keywords: complexity empathy capacity expressions situated within influenced contextual
• Cognitive Empathy, Affective Empathy and Empirical Research on the Double Empathy Problem: A Critical Methodology Review (2026) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  Limitations of this study will now be stated. Firstly, the lit- erature search took place in July 2025. This means it has not covered any literature published after this date. This may be problematic given the continued and potentially growing academic interest in the double empathy problem. Secondly, one exact meaning of cognitive empathy or affective empa- thy was not specified. As such, this risks contributing to the “conceptual confusion” (Bollen, 2023a, p.2) which can occur in debates over empathy. However, this approach was taken to better connect this research with autism research more broadly, given the multiplicity of definitions of empa- thy employed in autism research. Whilst this author hopes future research will consider how the double empathy prob- lem relates to cognitive and affective empathy, they also believe that there is very strong value in specific studies pro- viding a more specific definition of cognitive and affective empathy and that effort is made to ensure the measurements employed are suitable for that particular definition (see Bol- len, 2023b; Harrison et al., 2022). Thirdly, this paper did not produce any new empirical findings. However, this paper has contributed through clarifying the areas of empathy the evidence supporting the double empathy problem is appli- cable towards. It has also contributed by outlining possible approaches to studying whether the double empathy prob- lem is applicable to cognitive and affective empathy. Fourth, this paper has not considered whether any reduced cogni- tive or affective empathy in autistic to autistic interactions should or should not be considered a deficit. Even if future studies showed that autistic individuals attain significantly 1 3Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorderslower levels of cognitive or affective empathy with other autistic individuals compared with non-autistic to non- autistic pairings, there would still be an outstanding ques- tion of whether this would be a deficit or just a difference. This author has taken initial steps towards considering this complicated philosophical question (Fellowes, 2025).

  generallimitationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: empathy affective autistic cognitive double autism whether given problem empa taken employed author future prob
• Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  The impairment just in cognitive empathy suggests that empa- thy’s components are not interdependent, but the current knowledge needs to be further explored. For instance, studies with the same measure found contradictory findings (e. (2016) both relying on neuroimage obtained contradictory findings concerning empathy perfor- mance.

  generaldiscussionevidence 5/5
  Keywords: empathy contradictory impairment cognitive suggests empa components interdependent current knowledge needs further explored instance measure
• Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  There is a lack of systematic knowledge about empathy in children and adolescents with ASD. Previous research has focused primarily on the cognitive component of empathy, neglecting the affective component. The study aims to address this gap by examining the affective and cognitive dimensions of empathy in ASD.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: there lack systematic knowledge about empathy children adolescents
• Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  Future studies should examine the ecological aspects related to empathy in ASD. Research should focus on developing interventions that target cognitive empathy in individuals with ASD. Studies should use a variety of measures to assess empathy, including self-report measures and brain monitoring techniques.

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 5/5
  Keywords: future studies examine ecological aspects related empathy asd
• Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review (2026) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  The study faced challenges in terms of the limited number of studies that examined the affective component of empathy in ASD. The review was limited by the reliance on self-report measures to assess empathy. The study faced challenges in terms of the heterogeneity of the participants and the studies included in the review.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study faced challenges terms limited number studies examined
• Cognitive Empathy, Affective Empathy and Empirical Research on the Double Empathy Problem: A Critical Methodology Review (2026) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi

  Future studies should prioritize measuring cognitive and affective empathy. Researchers should design studies with set-ups conducive to cognitive and affective empathy. The development of interventions aimed at improving empathy in autistic individuals should be informed by research on cognitive and affective empathy.

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 4/5
  Keywords: future studies prioritize measuring cognitive affective empathy researchers

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