Empathy, systemizing, and autistic traits in anorexia nervosa: A pilot study

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This pilot study examined whether patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) would display an empathizing-systemizing psychometric profile similar to that found in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and whether people with AN would score highly on a measure of autistic traits. METHOD: Self-report measures of empathy, systemizing, and autistic traits were administered to 22 female AN patients and 45 female healthy controls (HC). RESULTS: AN patients and HCs did not differ significantly in their self-reported empathy and systemizing. AN patients scored significantly higher than HCs on the autism-spectrum quotient. CONCLUSIONS: Replication of these findings is required with larger samples and more sensitive measures.