The effect of affective learning on alexithymia, empathy, and attitude toward disabled persons in nursing students: A randomized controlled study

Factors that affect levels of alexithymia, empathy and communication skills of nursing students in northern Iran

AIM

The inability of nurses to express their own emotions, understand others' emotions and show empathy could result in communication gaps that could affect patient care outcomes. This study investigates the factors associated with the levels of alexithymia, empathy and communication skills among nursing students.

DESIGN

A survey was conducted among 365 nursing students, and data were collected using an online questionnaire.

METHODS

Data analyses were done using SPSS software version 22.

RESULTS

There was a significant positive association between age and empathy and a negative association between the number of times a nurse took the entrance exam. The level of education and interest in nursing correlate with communication skills. All the predictor variables of alexithymia in this current study were not significant. Emphasis should be placed on improving nursing students' empathy and communication skills. Student nurses should be taught how to recognize and express their emotions. To assess their mental health, they must be screened regularly.

Empathy alleviates the learning burnout of medical college students through enhancing resilience

OBJECTIVE

The problem of learning burnout of medical students is becoming prominent, and empathy can play a good predictive role in learning burnout. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between empathy and learning burnout, as well as the mediation effect of resilience in this relation.

METHODS

Five hundred and eighty-eighth college students from a key medical university in Yunnan Province was investigated using the Basic Empathy Scale, Learning Burnout Scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. All the measures showed good reliability and validity in the present study. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and Amos 22.0.

RESULTS

Using structural equation modeling, we tested a conceptual model indicated that: (1) medical students' empathy negatively and significantly predicted learning burnout; (2) medical students' empathy positively predicts mental resilience; (3) resilience of medical students negatively predicts learning burnout; (4) resilience partially mediated the relationship between empathy and learning burnout of medical students, while also controlling for family socioeconomic status.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the mediating role of resilience in the effect of empathy on learning burnout of medical college students. It may contribute to a better understanding of the effect of empathy. Moreover, it can also provide constructive suggestions for protecting and improve empathy and resilience of medical college students.