Personal distress and empathic concern in methadone-maintained patients

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Tomei ◽  
Jacques Besson ◽  
Nadia Reber ◽  
Ansgar Rougemont-Bücking ◽  
Jeremy Grivel
Keyword(s):  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Personal Distress

scholarly journals Understanding the Links between Inferring Mental States, Empathy, and Burnout in Medical Contexts

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Naira Delgado ◽  
Helena Bonache ◽  
Moisés Betancort ◽  
Yurena Morera ◽  
Lasana T. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Personal Accomplishment ◽  
Personal Distress

It is generally accepted that empathy should be the basis of patient care. However, this ideal may be unrealistic if healthcare professionals suffer adverse effects when engaging in empathy. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of inferring mental states and different components of empathy (perspective-taking; empathic concern; personal distress) in burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion; depersonalization; personal accomplishment). A total of 184 healthcare professionals participated in the study (23% male, Mage = 44.60; SD = 10.46). We measured participants’ empathy, the inference of mental states of patients, and burnout. Correlation analyses showed that inferring mental states was positively associated with perspective-taking and with empathic concern, but uncorrelated with personal distress. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion was related to greater levels of personal distress and greater levels of inferences of mental states. Depersonalization was associated with greater levels of personal distress and lower levels of empathic concern. Personal accomplishment was associated with the inference of mental states in patients, lower levels of personal distress, and perspective-taking. These results provide a better understanding of how different components of empathy and mental state inferences may preserve or promote healthcare professionals’ burnout.

Empathic abilities and their mediators in Tunisian psychiatry trainees

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 317-330
Author(s):  
Bochra Nourhene Saguem ◽  
Zeineb Bouzaâbia ◽  
Amel Braham ◽  
Selma Ben Nasr
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Reactivity Index ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to assess empathy dimensions in Tunisian psychiatry trainees and to evaluate their relationship with relevant professional and extra-professional factors. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire survey was administered to the psychiatry trainees affiliated in the four faculties of medicine of Tunisia (n = 120). It comprised, in addition to sociodemographic and professional variables, the interpersonal reactivity index, a multidimensional instrument that evaluates perspective taking, empathic concern, personal distress and fantasy. Other self-report measures were used to assess emotion regulation, social support and self-efficacy. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Findings The response rate was 71%. Descriptive statistics showed that personal distress’ scores were lower than the other empathy dimensions’ scores. Perspective taking scores were negatively correlated with emotion regulation difficulties. Personal distress scores were positively correlated with emotion regulation difficulties. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that being an only child significantly contributed to perspective taking and having an extra-professional activity significantly contributed to less personal distress. Perceived stress, social support and having a master’s degree were significant predictors for empathic concern. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of perspective taking, with emotion regulation difficulties mediating this relationship. Practical implications Interventions dedicated to improve psychiatry trainees’ empathy should focus not only on clinical practice and medical education but also on emotional support and recovery activities. Originality/value A unique feature of this study is the investigation of the potential impacts of emotion regulation difficulties and perceived self-efficacy on empathic abilities of psychiatry trainees.

scholarly journals Religiosity and Psychotic Ideation in Stable Schizophrenia: A Role for Empathic Perspective-Taking

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Rosó Duñó ◽  
Joan Carles Oliva ◽  
Adolf Tobeña ◽  
Diego Palao ◽  
Javier Labad
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Reactivity Index ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Interpersonal Reactivity Index ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between religiosity and different components of empathy was explored in schizophrenia patients. A total of 81 stable schizophrenia patients and 95 controls from the nearby community completed self-reported questionnaires assessing religiosity and empathy (through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, IRI). Patients with schizophrenia showed higher religiousness than controls and they presented less perspective-taking and empathic concern but increased personal distress in IRI scores. Regression analyses unveiled an association between religiosity and perspective-taking in schizophrenics after adjusting for age, gender, and psychotic symptoms. In conclusion, religiosity in patients with schizophrenia may be linked to variations in perspective- taking as a component of empathy.

The Role of Culture in Affective Empathy: Cultural and Bicultural Differences

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 309-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnie Chung ◽  
Sherilynn Chan ◽  
Tracy G. Cassels
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Health ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Reactivity Index ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Social Emotional

AbstractEmpathy is essential for healthy relationships and overall well-being. Affective empathy is the emotional response to others’ distress and can take two forms: personal distress or empathic concern. In Western cultures, high empathic concern and low personal distress have been implicated in increased prosocial behaviour (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 1989) and better emotion management and peer relations (e.g., Eisenberg and Fabes, 1998). Various factors have been examined with respect to affective empathy, but the role of culture has received little attention. Previous work suggests that children from East Asian cultures compared to those from Western cultures experience greater personal distress and less empathic concern (e.g., Trommsdorff, 1995), but no work has specifically examined these differences in adolescents or individuals who identify as ‘bicultural’. The current research examines cultural differences in affective empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980) in an adolescent and young adult sample (n=190) and examines how empathy relates to social-emotional health in bicultural individuals. Consistent with research on children, East Asian adolescents reported greater personal distress and less empathic concern than their Western counterparts. The bicultural individuals’ scores fell in between the East Asian and Western groups, but revealed significant differences from their ‘uni-cultural’ peers, demonstrating shared influences of community and family. Importantly, however, the relationship between affective empathy and social-emotional health in bicultural individuals was the same as for Western individuals. The current results provide an important first step in understanding the different cultural influences on empathic responding in a previously understudied population ‐ bicultural individuals.

scholarly journals Negative arousability and relationship satisfaction: The mediating role of empathy

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-90
Author(s):  
Ariadna B. Łada ◽  
Maria Kaźmierczak
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Emotional Empathy ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Relationship

Temperamental traits and empathy are both associated with emotional regulation; they thus shape both the quality of an individual’s life and the functioning of his or her social relationships. However, the mediating effects of emotional empathy in the relationship between temperamental characteristics and relationship satisfaction have not been closely analyzed and therefore require further study. This study examined the effects of temperamental arousability – global negative arousability and its components (fear, sadness, discomfort, frustration) – on emotional empathy and, consequently, on relationship satisfaction. One hundred and fifty young adults (104 women, 46 men) aged 20 to 35 participated in the study. The participants had been in romantic relationships for at least six months. The study used a sociodemographic survey and a set of questionnaires which included the Adult Temperament Questionnaire – Short Form, the Empathic Sensitiveness Scale and the RELAT Questionnaire. The results showed that empathic concern fully mediated the relationship between global negative arousability and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, the effects of fear and sadness on relationship satisfaction were fully mediated by empathic concern and personal distress. Additionally, personal distress fully mediated the relationship between discomfort and relationship satisfaction. Neither empathic concern nor personal distress were mediators in the relationship between frustration and relationship satisfaction. It can therefore be concluded that although partners who exhibit higher global negative arousability report lower relationship satisfaction, they might become more satisfied when being more compassionate and caring towards others.

scholarly journals Psychological Flexibility With Prejudices Increases Empathy and Decreases Distress Among Adolescents: A Spanish Validation of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–Stigma

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas ◽  
José Martín-Albo ◽  
Araceli Cruz ◽  
Víctor J. Villanueva-Blasco ◽  
Teresa I. Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Predictive Validity ◽  
Psychological Flexibility ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Vicarious Experience ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Spanish Validation ◽  
Concern For Others ◽  
Acceptance And Action Questionnaire

Empathy is an emotional response that may facilitate prosocial behavior and inhibit aggression by increasing empathic concern for others. But the vicarious experience of other’s feelings may also turn into personal distress when the person has poor regulation skills and holds stigmatizing beliefs. In thinking about the processes that may trigger the experience of personal distress or empathic concern, research on the influence of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on stigma is showing promising results. Both processes are assessed with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–Stigma (AAQ-S). The current study sought to carry out a validity study of a Spanish version of the AAQ-S with a sample of adolescents aged 11–17 years. The study included an expanded test of its predictive validity with measures at three times to evaluate the role of psychological flexibility and inflexibility as risk or protective variables for the development of personal distress and/or empathic concern in the stigmatizer. Statistical analyses confirmed a two-correlated-factor solution, the adequate reliability of both factors, and their construct and predictive validity in the expected direction. The stigmatizer’s inflexible reaction to their stigmatizing thoughts predicted the occurrence of personal distress, whereas the stigmatizer’s flexible reaction to their stigmatizing thoughts predicted the occurrence of empathic concern for others. These findings confirm the importance of considering the role of regulatory skills in the experience of empathic concern or personal distress in the presence of stigmatizing thoughts, with possible implications for the promotion of prosocial behavior and the reduction of aggressive behavior among adolescents.

Seeing and Feeling Your Way to Accurate Personality Judgments

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 806-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas E. Colman ◽  
Tera D. Letzring ◽  
Jeremy C. Biesanz
Keyword(s):  
Personality Trait ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Personality Judgments ◽  
Assumed Similarity ◽  
Trait Judgment

Empathy, the practice of taking and emotionally identifying with another’s point of view, is a skill that likely provides context to another’s behavior. Yet systematic research on its relation with accurate personality trait judgment is sparse. This study investigated this relation between one’s empathic response tendencies (perspective taking, empathic concern, fantasy, and personal distress) and the accuracy with which she or he makes judgments of others. Using four different samples ( N = 1,153), the tendency to perspective take ( ds = .23–.27) and show empathic concern ( ds = .28–.42) were all positively related meta-analytically to distinctive accuracy, normative accuracy, and the assumed similarity of trait judgments. However, the empathic tendencies for fantasy and personal distress showed more complex patterns of relation. These findings are discussed in relation to previous literature, and in particular, why it is reasonable for empathy to be related to the accuracy of trait judgments.

An Exploration of Empathy and Personality in Preservice Counselors

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Kathleen Kutsko ◽  
◽  
Roxanne Duviver ◽  
Gina Oswald ◽  
Adrianne Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Counselor Trainees ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Clear Relationship ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Essential Ingredient ◽  
Counseling Relationships ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Empathy allows individuals to care for the well-being of others and act with compassion. Research indicates that empathy is an essential ingredient for developing successful counseling relationships, leading to positive change for clients. Determining how empathy is related to personality provides counselors with valuable information for exploring the impact of personality on empathy in counselor trainees. To explore the relationship between empathy and personality among counselor trainees, the researchers compared scores on the MBTI® and the IRI. Results of this study suggest a clear relationship between personality and empathy and were similar to the findings of previous researchers. In addition, this study demonstrated that the MBTI® type preferences of extraversion, intuition, feeling and perceiving are significantly higher than introversion, sensing, thinking and judging on the various empathy scales, specifically in the areas of empathic concern, perspective taking, personal distress and fantasy. Implications were discussed for both counselor educators and practitioners.

Help From a Friend: Helicopter Parenting Predicts Empathy and Bystander Intervention

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110358
Author(s):  
Katey Hayes ◽  
Lisa A. Turner
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Bystander Intervention ◽  
Helicopter Parenting ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Lower Likelihood

Harassment toward others happens in many contexts with a myriad of negative impacts on victims, witnesses, and society. Although preventing harassment of others is ideal, it is also important to consider how bystanders may react in ways to defend the victim and reduce the harassment. Bystanders differ in their reactions to these events and the goal of this investigation is to better understand individual differences in college students’ reported tendency to defend victims of harassment. We proposed a mediation model where higher rates of helicopter parenting would predict lower empathic concern and greater personal distress. In turn, lower empathic concern and greater personal distress would predict lower likelihood of defending the victim. College students ( n = 305) completed self-report measures of helicopter parenting, empathic concern, personal distress, and bystander intervention to general harassment. Using the Hayes PROCESS program, we found the relation of helicopter parenting to bystander intervention was mediated by empathic concern, such that helicopter parenting predicted lower empathic concern, which predicted lower likelihood of intervening. Helicopter parenting predicted greater personal distress, but personal distress did not predict bystander intervention. In an exploratory analysis, we tested a moderated mediation model in which personal distress moderated the relation of empathic concern to bystander intervention. The moderated mediation model was statistically significant; for students with low to moderate personal distress, empathic concern predicted self-reported intervention. However, for students high in personal distress, empathic concern was not related to self-reported intervention. The current study explained a small amount of the variance in bystander intervention. These findings demonstrate the complex family and personal factors that may explain, to a small degree, individual differences in bystander intervention. Further studies should consider the complex contextual variables that may influence this relationship.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing Patient-Centeredness among Korean Nursing Students: Empathy and Communication Self-Efficacy

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 727
Author(s):  
Jaehee Jeon ◽  
Seunghye Choi
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Affected Patient ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Patient Centeredness ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Undergraduate Nursing Students ◽  
Undergraduate Nursing

In recent years, there is a growing tendency in the extent to which patients wish to be actively involved in processes related to their healthcare and relevant decision-making. This was a cross sectional study. We examined undergraduate nursing students’ patient-centeredness and investigated its associated factors including empathy and communication self-efficacy using a structured questionnaire. A total of 201 undergraduate nursing students who provided written consent to participate in the study completed measures on patient-centeredness (sharing and caring), empathy (fantasy, perspective taking, personal distress, and empathic concern), and communication self-efficacy. The factors affecting patient-centeredness were analyzed using multiple regression. Communication self-efficacy affected patient-centered sharing, while age, empathy (fantasy, personal distress, empathic concern), and communication self-efficacy affected patient-centered caring. Empathy and communication self-efficacy positively affected patient-centeredness. Therefore, strategies that promote empathy and communication self-efficacy are needed to increase patient-centered care competency.

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