Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42862531›Full record

ArticleChild psychiatry and human development2026

The Empathy Hierarchy: Unique Associations of Childhood Callous Unemotional Traits and Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms.

Lily Chen, Bryan Neo, Georgette E Fleming, Silvana Kaouar, Campbell McDonogh, Jessica Henery, Helen Gu, Brandon Le, Sarah Gardiner, Eva R Kimonis

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Article in Child psychiatry and human development, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Lily ChenSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Bryan NeoSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Georgette E FlemingLifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Silvana KaouarSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Campbell McDonoghSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Jessica HenerySchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Helen GuSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Brandon LeSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Sarah GardinerSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Eva R KimonisSchool of Psychology, Parent-Child Research Clinic, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. e.kimonis@unsw.edu.au.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Child conduct problems commonly co-occur with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which are both associated with empathy deficits; however, their unique associations are poorly understood because few studies consider the high overlap between CU traits and ASD. This study addressed this knowledge gap by investigating the unique associations between CU traits and ASD symptoms, and components of empathy (attention to others' distress, emotion recognition, understanding emotional states, empathic responding), and differences between children classified into clinical groups (conduct problems with and without CU traits and ASD) and typically developing children. Parents reported on their child's psychopathology symptoms and empathy, and children completed laboratory tasks measuring empathy components. Results indicated that ASD symptoms, but not CU traits, were uniquely associated with emotion recognition deficits. Meanwhile, CU traits were uniquely associated with reduced empathic responding, and this relationship was exacerbated with ASD symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Indexed as

Autism spectrum disorderCallous unemotional traitsEmotion recognitionEmpathic respondingUnderstanding emotional state

Identifiers

PMID42862531

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.