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Results for “empathic behavior”

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PubMed1989

Mothers' emotional arousal as a moderator in the socialization of children's empathy.

Overall, our findings suggest that the moderating effects of maternal affective arousal in the socialization of children's empathic responding are complex. On the one hand, at low levels of mothers' affective intensity, positive relations were found between children's sad facial reactions and mothers' prosocial suggestions. At the highest levels of affective responding, however, mothers' altruistic responding was significantly and positively related to children's sad facial responses, and mothers' altruism and inductive reasoning was negatively related to children's distressed facial reactions (Table 2). The negative relation of mothers' inductions and altruistic responding to children's facial distress reactions at high levels of mothers' affective responding could be interpreted to mean that these practices are associated with decreases in children's personal distress reactions to distressed peers (that is, with decreases in one's focus on one's own negative feelings). However, the positive relations between mothers' inductions and altruistic responding and children's facial distress reactions at low levels of mothers' emotional responding could support the interpretation of facial distress reactions as vicarious emotional responses. The affective response depicted by the children in the empathy films involved physical distress, so a purely vicarious affective (that is, empathic) response might be expected to be expressed facially as a distressed reaction. Thus, the variability in the results regarding children's facial distress reactions suggests that to interpret them as an index of either empathy or personal distress requires considering the nature of the empathy stimulus and may ultimately require assessing additional criterion variables (for example, examining the relation of facial distress reactions to actual prosocial behavior). Results not found in previous research were that high-intensity parental affect combined with negative control practices was associated with a lessening of children's sympathetic orientations, whereas situational definitions were positively associated with children's facial distress reactions to peer distress. The variability in these findings may be explained, in part, by the interpretation that parental affect may potentiate the impact of the semantic content of parental messages to the child. That is, if the content of the message is inductive, the mother's intense affect may heighten the meaningfulness of the relation between the child's behavior and its consequences for the peer's situation or feelings (unless, of course, the parent overwhelms the child with information).

Altruism↗

PubMed1984

Drug abuse. Its relationship to dental practice.

Drug abuse appears destined to become an exacerbating cultural phenomenon despite intrinsic dangers to the abuser and accelerating costs to society. Dentists cannot afford to ignore the problem or its sequelae either in terms of their personal involvement or in terms of the clinical implications of such a practice for their patients. Abuse of agents, such as opioids and amphetamines, by the dental practitioner leads to devastating personal, social, and professional consequences. The abuser jeopardizes his or her reputation, family relationships, professional practice, and, not uncommonly, his or her very life through accidental overdose of drugs or by suicide. Nitrous oxide abuse is particularly prevalent among dentists and, although producing no psychological dependence, may result in long-term myeloneuropathy and physical disability making continued dental practice impossible. The dentist's responsibilities in this area lie within clinical and social domains. Clinically, the dentist must (1) learn to detect those physical and behavioral signs in patients that are indicators of drug abuse; (2) become familiar with tactics employed by drug abusers to obtain drugs for themselves or for further criminal diversion, and be prepared to defend against such tactics; (3) understand and make clinical allowance for therapeutic complications that may arise in the treatment of drug-abuse patients. The dentist's social role as an informed, concerned, and empathic counselor in matters of drug abuse must be assumed as a personal imperative and not viewed as an intellectual abstraction. Whenever we are made aware of the drug-related devastation or death of a friend, colleague, or student, we discern the immediacy of an ethical responsibility of social dimensions, so eloquently expressed over 350 years ago, by John Donne in his "Devotions XVII": "No man is an island, ... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee".

Amphetamines↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children's empathy-related responding and social functioning: a longitudinal study.

This study examined the concurrent and cross-time relations of parental observed warmth and positive expressivity to children's situational facial and self-reported empathic responding, social competence, and externalizing problems in a sample of 180 elementary school children. Data was collected when the children were in second to fifth grades (age: M = 112.8 months), and again 2 years later. Cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models supported the hypothesis that parents' (mostly mothers') positive expressivity mediated the relation between parental warmth and children's empathy, and children's empathy mediated the relation between parental positive expressivity and children's social functioning. These relations persisted after controlling for prior levels of parenting and child characteristics. Moreover, concurrent and cross-time consistencies were found on measures of parenting, children's situational empathic responding, and social functioning.

Child↗

PubMed2005

Narrative possibilities: using mindfulness in clinical practice.

Narrative is ever present in medicine and is an integral aspect of the doctor and patient relationship. Although theoretical discussions of narrative medicine and narrative ethics are important, they may serve to reify the patient's story, to make it a specific entity. In practice, the patient's story unfolds in the moment of communication depending on the individuals and the circumstances; the story is not an "object." Patients' narratives heard in clinical settings are often limited by physician behaviors, especially the tendency of physicians to control the interaction with the patient. To develop individual narratives effectively and competently, physicians must be able to help the patient tell the story that is most important, meaningful, and descriptive of the situation. If the patient's narrative is not heard fully, the possibility of diagnostic and therapeutic error increases, the likelihood of personal connections resulting from a shared experience diminishes, empathic opportunities are missed, and patients may not feel understood or cared for. The practice of mindfulness--moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental awareness--opens a doorway into the patient's story as it unfolds. Such mindful practice develops the physician's focus of attention and offers the possibility for a meaningful and important narrative to arise between patient and physician.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2006

[Caregivers' role in breaking bad news: patients, doctors, and nurses' points of view].

The aim of the research was to identify the behavioral patterns employed by caregivers when breaking bad news, and their affect on the patient. These issues were examined from three points of view: patients, doctors, and nurses. A total of 152 interviewees participated in the research: 51 patients, 51 nurses, and 50 doctors. They completed a constructed questionnaire that included 35 items developed for the research. Support patterns identified as effective were: allowing for the expression of emotions, empathic silence, support through touch, and the use of participatory, commendation, and encouragement statements. The research findings point to the crucial need for the involvement of a family-member and a nurse in the process, and providing written information for the receiver of the news. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between patients and caregivers were found in the type of information given, the timing and quantity, as well as in the support and communication patterns. The principal emotions caregivers experienced were identification and helplessness, and most of them were not trained in this field. The research findings could bridge the gap between what patients want and what caregivers actually do, and would be beneficial in designing guidelines for breaking bad news, as well as formulating a workshop program for furthering the team skills.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1980

Origins, elements, and functions of therapeutic empathy.

Tracing the roots of empathy (within human history) descriptively to aesthetics and psychologically to the earliest mother-infant interactions, it is proposed that the ontogenesis and employment of mature empathy require repeated flexible--and, if necessary, sustained-access to its primitive levels, levels especially important to the analyst in the understanding of severely disturbed patients. Narcissistic disturbance in the analyst, while occasionally accompanied by a beneficial hypertrophy of primitive empathic capacities, tends to be particularly detrimental to the exercise of mature empathy. Countertransference is considered in this regard and in relation to therapeutic empathy evoked or impeded by unconscious fantasy--the latter proposed to be infrequently, if sometimes necessarily, a central element of therapeutic empathy, which more commonly may function inconspicuously at a preconscious level. In the analytic situation, it is suggested, empathy may often be addressed most usefully to focal conflicts (borrowing French's concept but not his precise definition) via the analyst's partial identification with the patient's self-in-depth, an entity which is acknowledged to be ultimately immeasurable and necessarily mysterious. Several aspects of the therapeutic employment of empathy are examined, including failures of empathy attributable to analyst, patient, or both, for worse and--potentially--for better; the role of empathy and empathic failure(real, imagined, and provoked) in the establishment of archaic negative transferences; and the assessment of abstinence as variable inherent in empathic exploration, with the inference that disciplined employment of empathy, rather than frustration per se, is likeliest to abet a therapeutic regression and to promote an enriching unification of the personality.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Mental illness depictions in prime-time drama: identifying the discursive resources.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine how the mentally ill are depicted in prime-time television dramas. METHOD: Fourteen television dramas that included at least one character with a mental illness, shown in prime-time during a 1-year period, were systematically viewed and analysed. RESULTS: Fifteen of the 20 mentally ill characters were depicted as physically violent toward self or others. Characters were also depicted negatively as simple or lacking in comprehension and appearing lost, unpredictable, unproductive, asocial, vulnerable, dangerous to self or others because of incompetent behaviours, untrustworthy, and social outcasts, and positively as caring or empathic. CONCLUSIONS: These data are consistent with an overwhelming negativity of depictions of the mentally ill found in other forms of media and settings, and contribute to the stigmatisation of this population.

Humans↗

PubMed2002

The hierarchical structure of empathy: dimensional organization and relations to social functioning.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the structure of empathy using a hierarchical approach, and to compare the dimensions of empathy with measures of social functioning, in order to contribute to the understanding of the nature of empathy. The dimensionality of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which comprises four subscales (empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy and personal distress) was examined using confirmatory factor analysis. Relations with the Social Skills Inventory were also investigated. A sample of 127 applicants for places on nursing and social work undergraduate programs participated in the study. The study findings indicate that empathy is hierarchically organized, with one general dimension at the apex. The general factor is identical to empathic concern and this dimension overlaps to a great extent with perspective taking and fantasy. The findings also indicate that the general dimension constitutes an integrated entirety, with its main emphasis on emotional reactivity by also involving cognitive processes.

Empathy↗

PubMed1998

Noncompliance with antidepressants: who's to blame?

Compliance with medical advice has always been a problem and there has always been discussion on who is to blame for noncompliance: the illness, the physician, the patient or the drug? A consensus between the physician's beliefs, views and representations of the nature and the etiology of the depression and of the treatment options on the one hand and the patient with his individual life story on the other is probably the best guarantee of reasonable compliance. In particular, a physician-patient consensus about the emotional meaning of the illness is essential: patients should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about the illness and what it signifies, and physicians should respond with feedback using the patient's concepts and emotional expression. Within this context of dialogue, patients may signal their resistance to and potential noncompliance with the physician's views. An empathic model of understanding can be used in the initial stages of the consultation. Finding an equilibrium between the cognitive-informational aspects of depressive illness and treatment on one hand and affective-motivational aspects on the other is a key factor in antidepressive treatment. Physicians should indeed always try to overcome the gap between the affective (empathy, motivational aspects) and the instrumental dimensions (correct diagnosis, adequate treatment) of their behavior.

Antidepressive Agents↗

PubMed1991

Applying statistical control theory to bring together clinical supervision and psychotherapy research.

A three-factor experiment was designed to evaluate the potential for improving first-session performance of 6 trainee-therapists as measured by postsession client ratings (N = 48). Rather than through standardizing therapist behavior by using a training manual beforehand, therapist effects were handled through statistical control. This method not only provided control so that findings were not confounded with some kinds of therapist effect but also identified which therapists needed supervision to bring their performance more in line with others in the group. Reducing the number of therapists requiring "standardization" should lower training costs and enhance individual freedom. In the present study, more frequent empathic responses led to statistically significant beneficial effects on five of seven outcome measures. Suggestions volunteered by therapists improved overall session ratings on three variables and increased scores on a measure of passive dependence. Whether or not therapists asked questions had no main effects on any tested outcome measure.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Countertransference envy toward the religious patient.

Four illustrations have been presented which demonstrate the uses and interpretations of envy in countertransference reactions to religious patients. To be sure, envy reactions to any patient are significant, whether they simply distort the therapist's perception or contribute to a deeper understanding of the patient. In the case of the religious patient, envy reactions in the therapist may serve as an additional instrumentality for under-standing the ways in which the dynamic determinants of religious behavior and metaphor become enmeshed in and also transform the pathology of the patient as well as the therapeutic process itself. Both the constructive and destructive object relational implications of envy must be borne in mind by the therapist in order to adequately explore the range of reciprocating forces between therapist and patient. Primitive mechanisms such as projective identification and psychotic transference are particularly prone to evoke envy reactions of surprising intensities, yet an empathic attitude will usually enable the therapist to differentiate the true source of his envy as he more carefully comprehends the quality of object relational and dynamic needs such envy serves.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Gender differences in the relationship between empathy and forgiveness.

Much research has shown that women are more empathic than men. Yet, women and men are equally forgiving. However, it is not clear whether empathy is more important to forgiveness for men or for women. The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in levels of empathy and forgiveness and the extent to which the association of empathy and forgiveness differed by gender. Participants were 127 community residents who completed self-report measures of empathy and forgiveness. The present results showed that women were more empathic than men, but no gender difference for forgiveness was apparent. However, the association between empathy and forgiveness did differ by gender. Empathy was associated with forgiveness in men--but not in women.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Tobacco cessation in primary care: maximizing intervention strategies.

The most effective preventive intervention that a clinician can provide for tobacco-using patients against heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is an empathic, personalized smoking cessation intervention program with extended assistance and follow-up. The goal of the intervention must be complete smoking cessation. Reduction provides no direct health benefits to the individual smoker. Interventions are readily available, but underutilized, in part due to lack of clinician training and organizational support. The present article summarizes the current guidelines for smoking cessation interventions as a framework from which to start. The guidelines incorporate the Transtheoretical Model of patient behavioral change and the "Five A's": Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist and Arrange. Pharmacotherapeutic tools, including nicotine replacement therapies (nicotine gums, patches, nasal sprays, inhalers and new therapies) and non-nicotine therapies (bupropion, clonidine, nortriptyline and other antidepressants and anxiolytics) are considered. Adherence validation methods, new approaches to tobacco and addiction treatment that appear in the recent research literature are reviewed. Beyond this framework, specific categories of tobacco users (including smokeless tobacco users), cultural and ethnic minorities, adolescents using snuff and bidis, women, Medicaid recipients, and users of multiple forms of tobacco require special consideration. With this framework and the modifications that may be required for specific categories of patients, practicing clinicians can incorporate into daily practice a successful tobacco cessation intervention program with quit rates approaching 20%.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nursing support of the process of becoming a mother.

In this overview, the stages in the process of becoming a mother and the variables influencing the process, including the mother's interacting family and friends, community, and societal environments, are discussed as a background for providing care to facilitate this process. Empathic listening and interactive dialogue with the mother are important approaches to identify and address her concerns during this important transition.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1995

What makes a tutor effective? A structural-equations modeling approach to learning in problem-based curricula.

PURPOSE: To test and further develop a causal model of the influence of tutor behaviors on student achievement and interest in the context of problem-based learning. METHOD: Data from 524 tutorial groups involving students participating in the four-year undergraduate health sciences curriculum at the University of Limburg in 1992-93 were analyzed. The tutorial groups were guided by 261 tutors. Overall, 3,792 data records were studied, with each student participating in an average of 2.3 groups. Correlations among tutors' social-congruence, expertise-use, and cognitive-congruence behaviors, small-group functioning, and student' self-study time, intrinsic interest in subject matter, and level of achievement were analyzed using structural-equations modeling. This statistical technique allows the investigator to test causal hypotheses on correlational data by comparing the structure of data with a theoretical model. RESULTS: After minor adaptations, the hypothesized causal model of the effective tutor fitted the data extremely will. Each tutor's level of expertise use and social congruence not only directly affected his or her level of cognitive congruence but also affected other elements of the model. Level of social congruence influenced group functioning in a direct fashion, while expertise use had a slightly negative effect on the students' level of self-study time and a slightly positive effect on level of achievement. As hypothesized, the level of cognitive congruence influenced tutorial-group functioning. Level of group functioning affected self-study time and intrinsic interest. Finally, time spent on self-study influenced level of achievement. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that subject-matter expertise; a commitment to students' learning and their lives in a personal, authentic way; and the ability to express oneself in the language used by the student are all determinants of learning in problem-based curricula. The theory of the effective tutor, presented in this article, merges two different perspectives prevalent in the literature. One perspective emphasizes the personal qualities of the tutor: his or her ability to communicate with students in an informal way, coupled with an empathic attitude that enables the tutor to encourage student learning by creating an atmosphere in which open exchange of ideas is facilitated. The other stresses the tutor's subject-matter knowledge as a determinant of learning. The data presented in this article suggest that what is needed, really, is much of both.

Achievement↗

PubMed2005

Psychological profile to become and to stay obese.

OBJECTIVE: The presentation will successively deal with the psychological models to explain for the onset or maintenance of child obesity. DESIGN: Five psychological perspectives on childhood obesity are selected. The boundary model of Herman and Polivy (1980) was brought forward as an explanation model for understanding the overeating behaviour in obese people. Others describe obese children as over-responsive to external cues and this over-responsiveness is seen as a personality trait. Learning theories put forward how (dysfunctional) learning mechanisms can explain also why obese people eat in front of food cues, without feeling hungry. Finally, obesity can be seen as an expression of a family pathology or an emotional problem. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological explanation models are still subject of discussion. Personality variables, eating behaviour, restraint attitudes, psychopathlogy and emotional factors, learning mechanisms as well as the role of the family are to be considered in an assessment process. It may help to better empathize with both parent and child. Furthermore, it can help to tailor the treatment program to the individual needs of an obese child. Further research is needed to find out whether already during the intake psychological indicators can be found that are predictors of negative therapy outcome.

Child↗

PubMed2007

Who cares? Revisiting empathy in Asperger syndrome.

A deficit in empathy has consistently been cited as a central characteristic of Asperger syndrome (AS), but previous research on adults has predominantly focused on cognitive empathy, effectively ignoring the role of affective empathy. We administered the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a multi-dimensional measure of empathy, and the Strange Stories test to 21 adults with AS and 21 matched controls. Our data show that while the AS group scored lower on the measures of cognitive empathy and theory of mind, they were no different from controls on one affective empathy scale of the IRI (empathic concern), and scored higher than controls on the other (personal distress). Therefore, we propose that the issue of empathy in AS should be revisited.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Future of caring machines.

Feeling cared for has profound effects on physiology, cognition and emotional state, and has significant health ramifications whether the source of this feeling is an intimate other, friend or health provider. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to social networks populated with caring individuals or has health providers who are patient, empathic and reliably available when emotional support is needed. Over the last decade, a range of computational artifacts and technologies have been developed that could help fill this unmet need in many peoples' lives. Caring machines are technologies that interact with an individual to accomplish a goal while also behaving in ways that give the individual the feeling of being cared for. This chapter presents evidence that these machines can begin to lead to significant health benefits, such as increased adherence to prescribed health behavior change and medication regimens.

Attitude to Computers↗