BRIEF REPORT Brief Report: Judging Pain Intensity in Children with Autism Undergoing Venepuncture: The Influence of Facial Activity

Abstract The biasing effect of pain sensitivity informa-tion and the impact of facial activity on observers’ judgements of pain intensity of children with autism were examined. Observers received information that pain expe-rience in children with autism is either the same as, more intense than, or less intense than children without autism. After viewing six video clips of children with autism undergoing venepuncture, observers estimated pain inten-sity using a visual analogue scale. Facial activity as coded by Chambers et al. (Child Facial Action Coding System Revised Manual, 1996) had a significant impact on observers ’ estimates of pain intensity; pain sensitivity information did not. These results have important impli-cations for the assessment and management of pain in children with autism