Vicarious ratings of social touch the effect of age and autistic traits

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 19336
• Main Authors: Haggarty, Connor J., Moore, David J., Trotter, Paula D., Hagan, Rachel, McGlone, Francis P., Walker, Susannah C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 29.09.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/477; 631/477/2811; Adult; Age Factors; Autism; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Autistic Disorder - physiopathology; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Child; Children; Cognitive ability; Diagnosis; Emotions; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; multidisciplinary; Ratings & rankings; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Self Report; Tactile stimuli; Time Factors; Touch - physiology; Touch Perception - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98802-2

Tactile sensitivities are common in Autism Spectrum Conditions (autism). Psychophysically, slow, gentle stroking touch is typically rated as more pleasant than faster or slower touch. Vicarious ratings of social touch results in a similar pattern of velocity dependent hedonic ratings as directly felt touch. Here we investigated whether adults and children’s vicarious ratings vary according to autism diagnosis and self-reported autistic traits. Adults’ scoring high on the AQ rated stroking touch on the palm as less pleasant than a Low AQ group. However, in contrast to our hypothesis, we did not find any effect of autism diagnosis on children’s touch ratings despite parental reports highlighting significant somatosensory sensitivities. These results are discussed in terms of underpinning sensory and cognitive factors.