Social Cognition Deficits in Autism and ADHD

Plain-language summary

Research suggests that individuals with both autism and ADHD often experience difficulties in social cognition, which is how we understand and respond to social cues. This can include challenges with "Theory of Mind" (understanding others' thoughts and feelings), recognizing emotions, and processing social information. However, the specific ways these challenges manifest and their underlying causes are still being actively researched, and evidence can sometimes be mixed due to the complexity of these conditions.

Key findings

• Individuals with both autism and ADHD may have difficulties with "Theory of Mind," which is the ability to understand that others have their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
• Challenges in recognizing emotions in others can be a feature for those with co-occurring autism and ADHD.
• Social perception, or how people interpret and make sense of social situations and cues, can be impacted in individuals with both conditions.
• The mechanisms behind social cognition difficulties in co-occurring autism and ADHD are complex, involving different ways of processing social information.
• Research in this area is ongoing, and more studies are needed to fully understand the specific social cognitive profiles of individuals with both autism and ADHD.

Studies cited (3)

1. Meta-analysis of social cognition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): comparison with healthy controls and autistic spectrum disorder — Bora E, Pantelis C (2016, Psychological medicine, meta-analysis)

   DOI: 10.1017/S0033291715002573

2. Social cognition in autism and ADHD. — Sven Bölte (2025, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, review)

   Social cognition is a crucial capacity for social functioning. The last decades have seen a plethora of social cognition research in neurodevelopmental conditions, foremost autism and, to a lesser extent, ADHD, both characterized by social challenges. Social cognition is a multifaceted construct comprising various overlapping subdomains, such as Theory of Mind/mentalizing, emotion recognition, and social perception. Mechanisms underpinning social cognition are complex, including implicit and explicit, cognitive and affective, and hyper- and hypo-social information processing. This review explo

3. [Comorbidity of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit with hyperactivity. A review study] — Berenguer-Forner C, Miranda-Casas A, Pastor-Cerezuela G (2015, Revista de neurologia, review)

   Publisher: TITLE: Comorbilidad del trastorno del espectro autista y el deficit de atencion con hiperactividad. Estudio de revision. Introduccion. La elevada presencia de trastorno por deficit de atencion/hiperactividad (TDAH) en el trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) ha sido reconocida en el Manual diagnostico y estadistico de los trastornos mentales, quinta edicion, permitiendo el diagnostico de ambos trastornos. Objetivo. Revisar las investigaciones publicadas entre 2010 y 2014 sobre las caracteristicas cognitivas y sociales de la coocurrencia del TEA y el TDAH. Desarrollo. La revision de l