(Altmann 2015)
Authors:
Tobias Altmann,
Victoria Schönefeld,
Marcus Roth
Date: 2015
Affiliation(s): Psychological Institute, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
Abstract
This study examined the impact of a 4-day empathy training program for social professions. The major focus of the training was to enhance reflected empathic behavior as a resource in emotionally tense situations by strengthening self-other differentiation and emotional self-acceptance. It was hypothesized that maladjustment symptoms such as depressiveness and irritation would decline as a consequence. The sample analyzed in this randomized control study evaluating the training program was comprised of 319 health care trainees at the graduate level.
Longitudinal follow-up data were collected before and 3 months after the training. Measures of emotional competences and maladjustment symptoms were taken. Results showed significant change in emotional self-acceptance, resilience, emotional self-perception, self-other-differentiation, irritation, and psycho-social maladjustment symptoms in the intervention group compared with the control group. Self-other differentiation was found to be a small yet significant mediator.
Target Group
Social professions
Methods Outline
strengthening self-other differentiation
strengthening emotional self-acceptance
Notes:
References
Altmann, T., & Roth, M. (2013). The Evolution of Empathy: From Single Components to Process Models. In C. Mohiyeddini,
M. Eysenck, & S. Bauer (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology of Emotions (pp. 171-188). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Åström, S., Nilsson, M., Norberg, A., Sandman, P., & Winbald, B. (1991). Staff burnout in Dementia Care: Relations to
Empathy and Attitudes. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 28, 65-75.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0020-7489(91)90051-4
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research:
Conceptual, Strategic and Statistical Considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Encouraging Words Concerning the Evidence for Altruism. Psychological Inquiry, 2,
159-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0202_17
Batson, C. D., Fultz, J., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1987). Distress and Empathy: Two Qualitatively Distinct Vicarious Emotions
with Different Motivational Consequences. Journal of Personality, 55, 19-39.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00426.x
Becker, B. J. (1988). Synthesizing Standardized Mean-Change Measures. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical
Psychology, 41, 257-278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8317.1988.tb00901.x
Berking, M., & Znoj, H. (2008). Entwicklung und Validierung eines Fragebogens zur standardisierten Selbsteinschätzung
emotionaler Kompetenzen (SEK-27) [Development and Validation of a Questionnaire for Standardized Self-Reports of
Emotional Competences]. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 56, 141-153.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1024/1661-4747.56.2.141
Bragard, I., Etienne, A.-M., Merckaert, I., Libert, Y., & Razavi, D. (2010). Efficacy of a Training on Medical Residents'
Self-Efficacy, Stress to Communicate and Burnout: A Randomized Controlled Study. Journal of Health Psychology, 15,
1075-1081. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359105310361992
Brunero, S., Lamont, S., & Coates, M. (2010). Review of Empathy Education in Nursing. Nursing Inquiry, 17, 65-74.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1800.2009.00482.x
Büssing, A., & Perrar, K. M. (1992). Die Messung von Burnout: Untersuchung einer deutschen Fassung des Maslach Burnout
Inventory (MBI-D) [Measurement of Burnout: Analysis of a German Version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory].
Diagnostica, 38, 328-353.
Butters, R. P. (2010). A Meta-Analysis of Empathy Training Programs for Client Populations. Doctoral Dissertation, Salt
Lake City, UT: University of Utah. http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/us-etd2,152303
Carré, A., Stefaniak, N., D’Ambrosio, F., Bensalah, L., & Besche-Richard, C. (2013). The Basic Empathy Scale in Adults
(BES-A): Factor Structure of a Revised Form. Psychological Assessment, 25, 679-691.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032297
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Corcoran, K. J. (1989). Interpersonal Stress and Burnout: Unraveling the Role of Empathy. Journal of Social Behavior and
Personality, 4, 141-144.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring Individual Differences in Empathy: Evidence for a Multidimensional Approach. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A Social-Neuroscience Perspective on Empathy. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 15, 54-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00406.x
Decety, J., & Lamm, C. (2009). Empathy versus Personal Distress: Recent Evidence from Social Neuroscience. In J. Decety,
& W. Ickes (Eds.), The Social Neuroscience of Empathy (pp. 199-214). Cambridge, UK: MIT Press.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262012973.003.0016
Derogatis, L. R. (1977). SCL-90-R, Administration, Scoring & Procedures Manual-I for the R(evised) Version. Baltimore,
MD: Self Published.
Doherty, R. W. (1997). The Emotional Contagion Scale: A Measure of Individual Differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior,
21, 131-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024956003661
Duquette, A., Kérowc, S., Sandhu, B. K., & Beaudet, L. (1994). Factors Related to Nursing Burnout: A Review of Empirical
Knowledge. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 15, 337-358. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/01612849409006913
Franke, G. H. (1995). Die Symptom-Checkliste von Derogatis: SCL-90-R [The Symptom Checklist by Derogatis]. Göttingen:
Beltz Test.
Gerdes, K. E., Segal, E. A., & Lietz, C. A. (2010). Conceptualising and Measuring Empathy. British Journal of Social Work,
40, 2326-2343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq048
Henderson, A. (2001). Emotional Labor and Nursing: An Under-Appreciated Aspect of Caring Work. Nursing Inquiry, 8,
130-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1800.2001.00097.x
Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and Moral Development: Implications for Caring and Justice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805851
Hojat, M. (2007). Empathy in Patient Care: Antecedents, Developments, Measurements, and Outcomes. New York: Springer
Science+Business Media.
Kellett, J. B., Humphrey, R. H., & Sleeth, R. G. (2002). Empathy and Complex Task Performance: Two Routes to Leadership.
The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 523-544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00142-X
Kimber, B., Sandell, R., & Bremberg, S. (2007). Social and Emotional Training in Swedish Schools for the Promotion of
Mental Health: An Effectiveness Study of 5 Years of Intervention. Health Education Research, 23, 931-940.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/her/cyn040
Kohut, H. (1984). How Does Analysis Cure? Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226006147.001.0001
Kunyk, D., & Olson, J. K. (2001). Clarification of Conceptualizations of Empathy. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 35, 317-
325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01848.x
Lamm, C., Batson, C. D., & Decety, J. (2007). The Neural Substrate of Human Empathy: Effects of Perspective-Taking and
Cognitive Appraisal. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 42-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.1.42
Lee, H. (2010). The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Labor and Its Effect on Job Burnout in Korean
Organizations. PhD Dissertation, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.
Long, E. C. J., Angera, J. J., & Hakoyama, M. (2008). Transferable Principles from a Formative Evaluation of a Couples’
Empathy Program. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 7, 88-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332690802106828
Marshall, W. L., Hudson, S. M., Jones, R., & Fernandez, Y. M. (1995). Empathy in Sex Offenders. Clinical Psychology Review,
15, 99-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(95)00002-7
Mohr, G., Müller, A., Rigotti, T., Aycan, Z., & Tschan, F. (2006). The Assessment of Psychological Strain in Work Contexts:
Concerning the Structural Equivalency of 9 Language Adaptations of the Irritation-Scale. European Journal of Psychological
Assessment, 22, 198-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.22.3.198
Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect Size Measures for Mediation Models: Quantitative Strategies for Communicating
Indirect Effects. Psychological Methods, 16, 93-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022658
Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2002). Empathy: Its Ultimate and Proximate Basis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25,
1-20.
Rindermann, H. (2009). Emotionale-Kompetenz-Fragebogen: EKF [Emotional Competence Questionnaire]. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Rogers, C. R. (1957). The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change. Journal of Consulting
Psychology, 21, 95-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0045357
Rosenberg, M. B. (1999). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion. Del Mar, CA: PuddleDancer Press.
Rosenberg, M. B. (2012). Living Nonviolent Communication. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.
Rosenberg, M. B., & Molho, P. (1998). Nonviolent (Empathic) Communication for Health Care Providers. Haemophilia, 4,
335-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2516.1998.440335.x
Singer, T. (2006). The Neuronal Basis and Ontogeny of Empathy and Mind Reading: Review of Literature and Implications
for Future Research. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 855-863.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2006.06.011
Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic Confidence Intervals for Indirect Effects in Structural Equation Models. Sociological Methodology,
13, 290-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/270723
Steins, G., & Wicklund, R. A. (1993). Zum Konzept der Perspektivübernahme: Ein kritischer Überblick [On the Concept of
Perspective Taking: A Critical Overview]. Psychologische Rundschau, 44, 226-239.
Stepien, K. A., & Baernstein, A. (2006). Educating for Empathy: A Review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 524-
530. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00443.x
Thoma, P., Zalewski, I., von Reventlow, H. G., Norra, C., Juckel, G., & Daum, I. (2011). Cognitive and Affective Empathy
in Depression Linked to Executive Control. Psychiatry Research, 189, 373-378.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2011.07.030
Thomas, J. (2013). Association of Personal Distress with Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction among
Clinical Social Workers. Journal of Social Service Research, 39, 365-379.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2013.771596
Weiner, B. (1986). An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion. New York: Springer.