Relationship between empathy and burnout among psychiatric residents
Journal Title: New Medicine - Year 2011, Vol 15, Issue 4
Abstract
<b>Aim.</b> To study the causal factors of empathy and burnout and the effect of emotional involvement on medical doctors. <br><b>Material and methods.</b> Descriptive study at 4 Hungarian medical faculties with 67 psychiatry residents. Instruments: Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach and Jackson, 1986), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980), Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (Krupat, E. et al. 2000), and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride 2003). Statistics: Spearman correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, factor analysis with Varimax rotation. <br><b>Results.</b> High emotional exhaustion among 32.8% of residents, high level of depersonalization of 29.9%, decrease of personal effectiveness of 52.2%. Significantly higher depersonalization for men (p ≤ 0.05). Significantly more subjective experience of symptoms of arousal for women than men (p = 0.028). Empathic distress (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) is accompanied by emotional exhaustion (p < 0.001), reduced personal accomplishment (p < 0.001), and each symptom of secondary trauma (p < 0.001). Emotional exhaustion correlates with all three symptoms of secondary trauma (p < 0.001). <br>Factor analysis of the questionnaires revealed two main factors: the first factor we named “reactive empathy” or “mentalization”. The second factor included components related to emotional contagion and its consequence, burnout. <br><b>Conclusions.</b> Experience of emotional contagion may predict the manifestation of burnout. Regulation of the intensity of emotional states, perspective change and empathic concern determine that form of empathy which has a positive effect on both the patient and the therapist.
Authors and Affiliations
Emőke Fülöp, Ágnes Devecsery, Katalin Hausz, Zsuzsanna Kovács, Márta Csabai
Keywords
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