Diagnostic status influences rapport and communicative behaviours in dyadic interactions between autistic and non-autistic people

Efthimiou, T. N., Lewis, S., Foster, S. J., Wilks, C., Dodd, M., Jiménez‐Sánchez, L., Ropar, D., Ackerman, R. A., Sasson, N. J., Fletcher‐Watson, S., & Crompton, C. J. (2025). Diagnostic status influences rapport and communicative behaviours in dyadic interactions between autistic and non-autistic people. PLOS One, 20(8), e0330222. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330222

Publication date: 29 Aug 2025 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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Publication authors
11
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 11 (9.1%)

Abstract

A growing body of research suggests that the behaviours and experiences of autistic and non-autistic people are influenced by whether they are interacting with someone of the same or different diagnostic status. However, little is known about the relationship between these behaviours and the experiences of rapport in matched and mixed neurotype dyads. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, our pre-registered analyses examine how participants' and their partners' diagnostic statuses influence linguistic, behavioural, and kinematic indices, and how these relate to feelings of rapport among autistic and (n = 57; 17 self-diagnosed) non-autistic (n = 51) participants interacting within autistic (n = 20), non-autistic (n = 17), and mixed autistic-non-autistic (n = 17) dyads. We found that autistic participants reported lower rapport regardless of their partner's diagnostic status, though awareness of their partner's diagnostic status had a moderating effect. We observed a linguistic difference, autistic participants produced longer mean utterance lengths, these and other behavioural or kinematic indices did not mediate the relationship between diagnostic status and rapport across neurotypes. The current work highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of communication dynamics in autism.

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Cited references
83
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
10 / 83 (12.0%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
11 / 275 (4.0%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 11 / 84 (13.1%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 9 / 230 (3.9%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
84 / 275 (30.5%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 50 / 230 (21.7%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
73 / 84 (86.9%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 73 / 275 (26.5%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 41 / 50 (82.0%).
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