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

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.

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Analysis of the Relationship between Burnout and Empathy Ability among Teachers in Special Education Schools

SHS Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/shsconf/202112301002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 123 ◽

pp. 01002

Author(s):

Xie Ma ◽

Ting Deng ◽

Danna Luo ◽

Jinjing Ma

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Personal Distress ◽

School Teachers ◽

Competence Scale ◽

Education School ◽

Special Education School ◽

The Relationship

In order to explore whether the empathy ability of Chinese special education school teachers has an impact on their burnout, this study investigated 156 special education school teachers using the Empathy Competence Scale and the Burnout Scale. The results are as follows : (1)The scores of various dimensions of burnout of teachers in special education schools are all lower than the theoretical median, and the overall level of job burnout of this group is low. (2)Except imagination was not correlated with emotional exhaustion, other dimensions of empathy ability were significantly correlated with all dimensions of burnout (all p <0.05). (3)Regression analysis found that perspective taking could negatively predict emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment (all p <0.05). Empathy concern could negatively predict low personal achievement (p <0.05). Personal distress positively predicted emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment (all p <0.001). Imagination could negatively predict emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (all p <0.05).

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Empathic abilities and their mediators in Tunisian psychiatry trainees

The Journal of Mental Health Training Education and Practice ◽

10.1108/jmhtep-05-2020-0033 ◽

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.

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

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs10020053 ◽

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.

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THE EFFECT OF FAMILY AND WORKPLACE CHARACTERISTICS ON THE BURNOUT LEVEL OF RADIOGRAPHERS WORKING IN ONCOLOGY PATIENT CARE

Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy journal ◽

10.47724/mirtj.2020.i02.a001 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 5-12

Author(s):

Attila András PANDUR ◽

Szabolcs CSEH ◽

József TOLLÁR ◽

Imre REPA ◽

Csaba VANDULEK ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Online Data ◽

Oncology Patient ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mean Values ◽

Negative Effect

Purpose: The aim of our study was to explore the burnout rate of radiographers working in oncology patient care. Materials and methods: Our cross-sectional, targeted non-random sampled research was carried out from June 2018 to September 2018. We used the Maslach Burnout Inventory supplemented with our own questionnaire for online data collection. In addition to demographic aspects, we collected data about job characteristics to examine predictors of burnout. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, two-sampled t-test, analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used at 95% confidence level (p=0.05). Results: We analyzed the data of 72 radiographers working in oncology patient care (n=72) and 332 radiographers working in other fields of patient care (n=332). Radiographers working in oncology patient care were characterized by a significantly increased value of emotional exhaustion (p=0.001). Respondents who were single, provided monthly on-call duty and held university degree showed depersonalization (p=0.001). The presence of a secondary job, working more than 40 hours of work per week and active participation in on-call duty services had a negative effect on emotional exhaustion (p=0.001). Respondents with more than one child in their household showed a significantly better value of personal accomplishment (p=0.001). The subjective assessesment of poor financial status had negative effect on all three dimensions of burnout (p=0.001). Conclusion: The mean values of the emotional exhaustion of radiograhers working in oncology patient care increased significantly. The observed elevated value of personal accomplishment shows a sign of positive feedback coming from the patients towards the radiographer.

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Seeing and Feeling Your Way to Accurate Personality Judgments

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550617691097 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 806-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

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.

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An Exploration of Empathy and Personality in Preservice Counselors

Journal of Counselor Practice ◽

10.22229/aee1222021 ◽

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.

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Burnout Syndrome among Emergency Physicians and Nurses in Abha and Khamis Mushait Cities, Aseer Region, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2019/4515972 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Abdulghani M. Alqahtani ◽

Nabil J. Awadalla ◽

Safar A. Alsaleem ◽

Awad S. Alsamghan ◽

Mohammed Abadi Alsaleem

Keyword(s):

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Emergency Departments ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Significant Risk ◽

Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Burnout Syndrome ◽

Considerable Proportion ◽

Emergency Physicians ◽

History Of

Objectives. To explore the magnitude and determinants of burnout among emergency physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities.Subjects and Methods. A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities belonging to Ministry of Health. All physicians (n=95) and nurses (n=187) currently working at these sites were invited to participate in the study by filling a validated self-administered questionnaire including two main sections: personal and professional characteristics of physicians and nurses as well as Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) to assess the three components of the burnout syndrome: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.Results. The study included 282 physicians and nurses. The age of more than half of them (54.3%) ranged between 31 and 35 years. Most of them (70.9%) were females. About two-thirds of the respondents (66.3%) were nurses while the remaining 33.7% were physicians. Majority of the emergency healthcare professionals (88.7%) had high emotional exhaustion. The prevalence of high depersonalization (cynicism) was 20.6% whereas that of low personal accomplishment was 41.1% among emergency healthcare professionals. The overall prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals was 16.3%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that male healthcare professionals were at almost higher three-folded risk for developing burnout compared to females (aOR=2.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-6.28, p=0.017)). Smokers were at higher significant risk for burnout compared to nonsmokers (aOR=15.37; 95% CI: 7.06-33.45, p<0.001). Healthcare professionals who reported a history of taking medications for sleep disorders expressed higher risk for burnout opposed to those with no history of sleep disorder medication (aOR=6.59; 95% CI: 2.08-20.81, p=0.001).Conclusion. A considerable proportion of physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities had burnout syndrome, particularly high emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment.

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Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Current Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities ◽

10.12944/crjssh.4.2.04 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 152-163

Author(s):

Mersiha Jusic

Keyword(s):

Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Work Place ◽

High Stake ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Work Centrality ◽

Broad Array

Burnout, a state of stress-induced emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion, continues to be a topic of interest across a broad array of sciences. It is because burnout not only causes psychosomatic problems, but also has an effect on job performance, which is vital in high-stake professions. Therefore, exploring the level of healthcare professionals’ burnout, and understanding which work-place factors are correlated with it, is of outmost importance. For this purpose, the present correlational study explored this issue in a convenience sample of 209 MDs and nurses from primary healthcare institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including, for the first time, a comprehensive number of psychosocial factors at work. Interestingly, the majority of healthcare professionals scored low on burnout measures of MBI. Nevertheless, one fifth of participants had potential early warning signs of burnout. Compared to their colleagues in other European countries, Bosnian-Herzegovinian doctors experience lower yet comparable levels of emotional exhaustion, lower depersonalization, and higher sense of personal achievement. Furthermore, nurses show an even more beneficial trend on all three burnout dimensions. In addition, the study established some significant positive predictors of burnout dimensions pertaining to the work environment. More precisely, quantitative workload and decision-making demands were found to be positive predictors of emotional exhaustion, while the strongest predictors of depersonalization were work-place support (from colleagues and superiors) and self-esteem. Significant predictors of personal accomplishment were perception of mastery and work centrality. This suggests that burnout among healthcare professionals arises both from the immediate workplace factors and individual ones, therefore implicating institutions in its prevention and reduction.

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Burnout in the Clinical Personnel of Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 Pandemic

10.20944/preprints202007.0451.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gustavo Cortina-Rodríguez ◽

Yelianne Afanador

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Key Words ◽

Emotional Exhaustion ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Burnout Syndrome ◽

Healthcare Personnel ◽

Open Questions

Objective: To examine the burnout syndrome among the healthcare personnel in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptive study that pursues to understand burnout syndrome in the clinical personnel in Puerto Rico. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was sent via email to healthcare professionals around the island. Furthermore, open questions were asked to the participants. Results: The overall burnout level on the clinical personnel was found to be moderate. Nonetheless, in physicians, 12.1% had severe burnout levels compared to a 13.1% score in nurses. Additionally, 92.4% of physicians and 100% of nurses had moderate to severe burnout. In the three subscales, nurses scored high levels in all of them, and physicians were high in Emotional Exhaustion and moderate level in Depersonalization and Personal Accomplishment at Work. There were high levels of burnout syndrome of the clinical personnel in Puerto Rico. Conclusion: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 90% of healthcare professionals in Puerto Rico have been working with moderate to severe burnout syndrome, being the nurses the most affected. Key Words: Burnout syndrome, MBI, Clinical personnel, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2

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Clinical Practice Stress and Burnout in Nursing Students: The Mediating Effect of Empathy

The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education ◽

10.5977/jkasne.2018.24.4.406 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 406-414 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yeoungsuk Song

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Empathic Concern ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Mediation Effect ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mediating Role

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationships between clinical practice stress and burnout, and the mediating role of empathy in nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was employed. One hundred seventeen nursing students completed questionnaires on clinical practice stress, empathy (perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern and personal distress) and burnout in December 2017. IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used and descriptive statistics, frequency, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression were conducted. Baron & Kenny method and Sobel test were adopted for analysis of the mediation effect (personal distress of empathy). Results: The mean scores of clinical practice stress and burnout were 3.45 and 43.09, and perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern and personal distress of empathy were 2.67, 2.42, 2.64 and 2.19, respectively. The highest relationship between clinical practice stress and empathy was personal distress of empathy (r=.32, p<.001). Burnout was positively associated with clinical practice stress and personal distress of empathy (r=.22, p=.015; r=.51, p<.001). Personal distress of empathy demonstrated a complete mediating effect on the relationship between clinical practice stress and burnout (Z=3.22, p=.001). Conclusion: These results showed that decreasing personal distress of empathy is important for nursing students, and may help in reducing clinical practice stress and burnout.

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