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Results for “empathic behavior”

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PubMed1997

The structure of empathy during middle childhood and its relationship to prosocial behavior.

This study was an investigation of the structure and development of dispositional empathy during middle childhood and its relationship to altruism. A sample of 478 students from 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades completed an altruism questionnaire and a social desirability scale, both created for this study, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980), adapted for this study. Teachers also rated the students on prosocial behaviors, such as sharing. In addition, as an experimental part of the study, the children could make monetary donations and volunteer time to raise funds. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index supported Davis's (1980) findings that empathy comprises four components: perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and personal distress. Factor intercorrelations, however, were not the same as those reported by Davis. MANOVAs were used to examine gender and age effects on empathy. Girls were more empathic in general than boys, and older children showed more empathic concern than younger children. Only empathic concern and perspective taking were significant predictors of prosocial behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Young adults' reactions to gay and lesbian peers who became suicidal following "coming out" to their parents.

Rates of nonfatal suicidal behavior among gay and lesbian youth surpass those recorded among their heterosexual peers. A frequently cited precipitant of gay and lesbian nonfatal suicidal behavior is the turmoil associated with coming out to one's family. This study investigated young adults' attitudes toward peers who engaged in suicidal behavior after coming out and being rejected by their parents, and compared them with attitudes toward persons who had become suicidal in response to other stressors (a physical illness, a relationship loss, or an academic failure). Our goal was to explore whether young persons hold beliefs that may encourage lesbian and gay suicidal behavior. We found that gays and lesbians who engaged in suicidal behavior following coming out were not viewed in particularly forgiving or empathic ways, as was the case for persons who became suicidal following an incurable illness. All suicidal persons were perceived as relatively feminine. At the same time, suicidal males were rated as more masculine if they engaged in suicidal behavior because of an academic failure or a physical illness, while suicidal females were viewed as more masculine only if their suicidal behavior followed an academic failure. Finally, we found that both respondent sex and respondent gender-identity influenced evaluations of suicidal persons. Building on these findings, future research should explore attitudes toward the permissibility of a suicidal decision by lesbian and gay persons.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

A model of empathic communication in the medical interview.

OBJECTIVE: To formulate an empirically derived model of empathic communication in medical interviews by describing the specific behaviors and patterns of interaction associated with verbal expressions of emotion. DESIGN: A descriptive, qualitative study of verbal exchanges using 11 transcripts and 12 videotapes of primary care office visits to a total of 21 physicians. SETTING: An urban health maintenence organization (HMO), an urban university-based general medicine clinic, and an urban community hospital general medicine clinic. ANALYTIC METHOD: Individual review of transcripts by each research team member to identify instances of expressed or implied emotional themes and to observe the physicians' responses. Individual ratings were compared in group discussions to achieve consensus about the classifications. Similar consensus-based classification was used for review of videotapes. RESULTS: We observed that patients seldom verbalize their emotions directly and spontaneously, tending to offer clues instead. If invited to elaborate, patients may then express the emotional concern directly, and the physician may respond with an accurate and explicit acknowledgment. In most of the interviews, the physicians allowed both clues and direct expressions of affect to pass without acknowledgment, returning instead to the preceding topic, usually the diagnostic exploration of symptoms. With emotional expression so terminated, some patients attempted to raise the topic again, sometimes repeatedly and with escalating intensity. We noted a parallel dynamic for encounters in which patients sought praise. We summarized the full interactional sequence in a simple descriptive model. CONCLUSIONS: This empirically derived model of empathic communication has practical implications for clinicians and students who want to improve their communication and relationship skills. Based on our observations, the basic empathic skills seem to be recognizing when emotions may be present but not directly expressed, inviting exploration of these unexpressed feelings, and effectively acknowledging these feelings so the patient feels understood. The frequent lack of acknowledgment by physicians of both direct and indirect expressions of affect poses a threat to the patient-physician relationship and warrants further study.

Communication↗

PubMed1979

Which short-term therapy? Matching patient and method.

In recent years, numerous forms of short-term psychotherapy have been developed, without clear guidelines for choosing among them. There are three major approaches in terms of both their techniques and their criteria for patient selection. The "interpretive" method stresses the use of insight produced by a therapist's interpretations, the "existential," the maturational effect of a brief empathic encounter with the therapist, and the "corrective," the behavioral changes resulting from patient management by the therapist. The question facing a short-term therapist is how to choose a particular method for a particular patient. A framework is proposed based on developmental phases of adult life to help therapists match patient and method.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Helping patients with risky health behaviors: some suggestions for motivational interviewing].

Helping patients modify risky health behaviors, including cigarette smoking, at-risk alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet, is a common and sometimes frustrating task. Motivational interviewing was developed from the notion that simple advice usually does not lead to behavioral change and may be even misperceived by patients. Based on active listening and an empathic attitude, some principles of motivational interviewing may be easily adapted to a primary care consultation. These principles facilitate positive, relaxed and constructive atmosphere for behavior change discussions and have been associated with promising results. This article presents key concepts of motivational interviewing such as ambivalence, resistance and stages of change, illustrated with practical examples.

Health Behavior↗

PubMed2006

The multiple facets of empathy: a survey of theory and evidence.

Empathy is the ability to perceive and understand other people's emotions and to react appropriately. This ability is a necessary prerequisite for successful interpersonal interaction. Empathy is a multifaceted construct including low-level mechanisms like emotional contagion as well as high-level processes like perspective-taking. The ability to empathize varies between individuals and is considered a stable personality trait: some people are generally more successful in empathizing than others. In this chapter we will first present different conceptualizations of the construct of empathy, and refer to empathy-regulating processes as well as to the relationship between empathy and social behavior. Then, we will review peripheral physiological and brain imaging studies pertaining to low- and high-level empathic processes, empathy-modulating processes, and the link between empathy and social behavior. Further, we will present evidence regarding interindividual differences in these processes as an important source of information for solving the conundrum of how the comprehension of others' emotions is achieved by our brains.

Brain↗

PubMed2003

Characterization of empathy deficits following prefrontal brain damage: the role of the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Impaired empathic response has been described in patients following brain injury, suggesting that empathy may be a fundamental aspect of the social behavior disturbed by brain damage. However, the neuroanatomical basis of impaired empathy has not been studied in detail. The empathic response of patients with localized lesions in the prefrontal cortex (n = 25) was compared to responses of patients with posterior (n = 17) and healthy control subjects (n = 19). To examine the cognitive processes that underlie the empathic ability, the relationships between empathy scores and the performance on tasks that assess processes of cognitive flexibility, affect recognition, and theory of mind (TOM) were also examined. Patients with prefrontal lesions, particularly when their damage included the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, were significantly impaired in empathy as compared to patients with posterior lesions and healthy controls. However, among patients with posterior lesions, those with damage to the right hemisphere were impaired, whereas those with left posterior lesions displayed empathy levels similar to healthy controls. Seven of nine patients with the most profound empathy deficit had a right ventromedial lesion. A differential pattern regarding the relationships between empathy and cognitive performance was also found: Whereas among patients with dorsolateral prefrontal damage empathy was related to cognitive flexibility but not to TOM and affect recognition, empathy scores in patients with ventromedial lesions were related to TOM but not to cognitive flexibility. Our findings suggest that prefrontal structures play an important part in a network mediating the empathic response and specifically that the right ventromedial cortex has a unique role in integrating cognition and affect to produce the empathic response.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

[Interactions of the infant with its partners: evaluation of preventive and therapeutic approaches].

Interactions between the infant and its partners are defined and described on three levels: behavior, affect, fantasy, with a special focus on the functioning of the infant. The dynamics of the parent/infant relationships are analyzed along transactional theories: the infant and its partners influence each other in a constant process of developing and changing. Together with acknowledging the baby's active role in the relation, we seek better understanding of how the infant shapes up throughout transactions. Different assessment methods of the interactions are analyzed both within a clinical framework and a research framework, and examples of assessment format are given. The transactional perspective in clinical practice with the infant introduces a new model for understanding the pathogenesis of relational disturbances. It appears necessary to conceptualize a specific nosology of interactive pathology, beyond the reference to parental or infant pathology; we thus propose a classification of interactive disturbances by integrating the three levels (behavior, affect, fantasy). The aim of this investigation of interactions, based on an attempt to synthetize anglo-saxon and european research in the field, is to outline a new perspective in clinical concepts and practice which is not solely focused on the description of behaviors in infant interactions with its partners. This viewpoint, resolutely psychopathological in its orientation, implies an empathic approach which leads to important therapeutic changes and legitimizes early preventive interventions.

Affect↗

PubMed1982

Empathic responding in children of battered mothers.

The present study assessed the empathic abilities of children whose mothers had been the targets of conjugal violence. Thirty-two mothers and their preschool children served as subjects. There were equal numbers of boys and girls. Half of the mothers had a history of having been abused by their husbands while the other half came from non-violent relationships. The instability of the abused mothers' familial relationships was further established by means of a Home Climate Questionnaire. Analysis of this instrument revealed that although abusive husbands were not reported to be physically violent with their children, they were more verbally aggressive than their non-abusive counterparts. Four measures assessed the empathic abilities of the children: role-enactment, social inference, role-taking, and social behavior. A 2-way MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) run on these measures indicated a significant main effects of groups on all but the social behavior measure. There was also a significant groups by sex of child interaction on the role-taking measure. The results suggest the early and pervasive influence which marital discord may have on the empathic abilities of young children. Both direct and vicariously mediated forces may influence this facet of the child's social development.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Repetition compulsion and self-psychology: towards a reconciliation.

The concept of repetition compulsion, which has never been fully acknowledged by Kohut and his followers, is re-evaluated in this article within the context of self-psychology. In line with the underlying principles of defensive contact-shunning on the one hand, and non-traumatic empathic failure on the other hand, the repetition can be seen as the twofold expression both of the wish for a new benign relationship and of the dread of traumatic, repeated disappointment. Therefore, early non-traumatic disappointments are initiated by the patient, and role-responded to by significant others. This way, the risk of disillusionment of full-blown expectations is avoided. The repetition compulsion, then, is a complex mechanism: preventive in one part, it protects the vulnerable self from potentially traumatising experiences; thus, it is operated in response to the danger signal of emotional cravings, once the latter are experienced as getting out of hand. Providing novel experiences, in its other part, it can lead to opening the road for change; such curative impact relies on lengthy working through in a safe, empathic, holding environment.

Compulsive Behavior↗

PubMed1997

Personality correlates of homophobia.

This study explored the relationship between homophobia and several personality traits (empathy, religiosity, and coping style) in the context of respondents' gender and age. The sample consisted of 714 college students who responded to the Homophobia Attitude Scale (HAS) and personality trait scales. Results revealed that women endorsed fewer homophobic attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors than men and that age was negatively correlated with homophobia. Empathic concern and perspective taking were significantly correlated with lower overall homophobic attitudes, less affect discomfort in regard to gays, and less likelihood to abridge the human rights of gays. Religiosity was significantly correlated with more biased beliefs about the origins of homophobia, greater affective discomfort around gays, less endorsement of human rights for gays, and greater homophobia. Use of denial and isolation as coping styles were positively related to homophobia and use of turning against style was negatively correlated.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interpersonal communications skills for dental hygiene students: a pilot training program.

PURPOSE: The educational preparation of most oral health professionals specifically has not addressed professional-patient interaction skills. The purpose of this pilot research project was to determine if the Carkhuff model of communication skills training would improve the interpersonal communication skills of junior dental hygiene students. METHODS: The pilot training program was designed to assess and improve interpersonal communication skills using an experimental pretest-posttest design. In Spring 1990, twenty-four baccalaureate dental hygiene students were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group completed twenty (20) hours of interpersonal skills training based on Carkhuff's Human Resources Development Model. Video demonstrations, patient simulations, and role modeling were used to enhance learning and retention. Data were collected using three instruments: 1. "Acting" patient video interviews were evaluated by three independent raters to assess change in skilled behaviors. 2. A self-report instrument and a scenario/response option questionnaire were completed to examine change in knowledge of communication skills. 3. A self-report emotional empathy score determined the effects of training on the dimension of empathy. These instruments were administered pretraining, post-training, and one year later to assess differences in behavior, knowledge, and empathy due to the training and maturation. Data analysis included a two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures, frequency distributions, means, standard deviations, and Chronbach's coefficient alpha. A Mann Whitney U-test also was calculated to examine the differences in the distribution of the change scores over time. RESULTS: Post-train results demonstrated significant differences in knowledge but not in behavior. One-year retention scores showed a significant improvement (p<.01) in both knowledge and behavior by the experimental group when compared to the control group. Empathic responsiveness was not related to the training since both groups progressed modestly but at different rates over the 15-month project. CONCLUSIONS: It is important that dental hygiene practitioners have the requisite interpersonal skills to facilitate the partnership between each patient and client in attaining and maintaining optimal oral health. The results of this pilot study support the recommendation that interpersonal communication skills training become an integral part of the dental hygiene curriculum. However, further studies on this aspect of education should be completed in order to verify the results of this study and provide further support for changes in the education and socialization process of dental hygiene professionals.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1987

Suicide: recognition and management.

Patient suicide is a common clinical problem. In the United States, 28,000 people commit suicide annually, and most of these victims have had a consultation with a physician during the 6 months preceding death. Two conditions frequently associated with suicide are affective disorders and alcoholism, and recognition and management of these conditions will help to prevent many suicides. Hospitalized patients seem to be at high risk for suicide--particularly apparent victims of "accidents", which may be well-disguised suicide attempts. Physicians should be aware of verbal and behavioral warning signs of suicidal tendencies in patients, such as a morbid preoccupation with death, giving away possessions, and poor work or school attendance. Empathic listening and intervention by the physician should lead to suggestions for alternative resolutions to the problem that prompted the suicidal behavior and should decrease the level of perturbation. Hospitalization should be considered for the suicidal patient with impaired rational thinking or severe depression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Change in indices of distress among Latino and Anglo female caregivers of elderly relatives with dementia: site-specific results from the REACH national collaborative study.

PURPOSE: Few empirical studies have compared the efficacy between psychoeducational (skill-building) approaches for reducing caregivers' psychological distress and interventions modeled after typical community-based support groups. We compare the impact of two distinct interventions on Anglo and Latino caregivers of elderly relatives with dementia. DESIGN AND METHODS: The change from preassessment to postassessment (baseline to 3 months) for 213 female caregivers (122 Anglo and 91 Latino) is presented. They were seen weekly for 10 weeks in either the Coping With Caregiving psychoeducational program (instruction and practice in small groups to learn specific cognitive and behavioral skills) or in the Enhanced Support Group condition (guided discussion and empathic listening to develop reciprocal support within the group). Both programs were tailored to be sensitive to the cultural concerns of Anglo and Latino caregivers, and they were delivered in either English or Spanish by trained interventionists. RESULTS: Overall, participants in the Coping With Caregiving condition reported a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, increased use of adaptive coping strategies, and a trend toward decreased use of negative coping strategies when compared with those in the Enhanced Support Group condition. Results were similar for both ethnic groups: there were no main effects for ethnicity, and no significant ethnicity by treatment interaction effects. IMPLICATIONS: This study provides empirical support that female caregivers benefit more from a skill-building approach to managing their distress than from support group membership alone. We find it very encouraging that the Latino caregivers responded well on key outcome variables, suggesting that Latinos will participate in clinical research and will benefit from their involvement when services are provided to meet their specific needs.

Aged↗

PubMed1988

Taking care of patients--does it matter whether the physician is a woman?

Researchers have recently begun to compare male and female physicians' attitudes toward patients, medical knowledge, and practice styles. Although women start medical school with more "humanistic views," the conservative effect of medical socialization on both male and female students attenuates these differences. While some studies suggested that men are more scientifically knowledgeable, recent studies showed no significant differences in physicians' medical knowledge. Male and female physicians also had comparable diagnostic and therapeutic behavior. In the intimate world of physicians and patients, however, there were notable differences. Women physicians seemed better able to communicate sensitivity and caring to patients, which may account for the common perception that women are more caring and empathic physicians. Medical educators may wish to study more closely female physicians' communication styles to identify these behaviors and inculcate them into all physicians.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1982

Prosocial behavior and perspective-taking of mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

Fourteen nonretarded second-grade children, 14 EMR elementary-aged children, and 14 TMR adolescents, all of preoperational cognitive level on Piagetian tasks, were compared on measures of perceptual perspective-taking, empathy (affective perspective-taking), and helping (prosocial behavior). In their performance on a simple task, subjects did not vary on any of these measures. Successful perspective-taking was found to be task specific. The expected association between ability to empathize and helping was found only for nonretarded children. Results were discussed in terms of both cognitive and social factors affecting behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2007

The neural substrate of human empathy: effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal.

Whether observation of distress in others leads to empathic concern and altruistic motivation, or to personal distress and egoistic motivation, seems to depend upon the capacity for self-other differentiation and cognitive appraisal. In this experiment, behavioral measures and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging were used to investigate the effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal while participants observed the facial expression of pain resulting from medical treatment. Video clips showing the faces of patients were presented either with the instruction to imagine the feelings of the patient ("imagine other") or to imagine oneself to be in the patient's situation ("imagine self"). Cognitive appraisal was manipulated by providing information that the medical treatment had or had not been successful. Behavioral measures demonstrated that perspective-taking and treatment effectiveness instructions affected participants' affective responses to the observed pain. Hemodynamic changes were detected in the insular cortices, anterior medial cingulate cortex (aMCC), amygdala, and in visual areas including the fusiform gyrus. Graded responses related to the perspective-taking instructions were observed in middle insula, aMCC, medial and lateral premotor areas, and selectively in left and right parietal cortices. Treatment effectiveness resulted in signal changes in the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, in the ventromedial orbito-frontal cortex, in the right lateral middle frontal gyrus, and in the cerebellum. These findings support the view that humans' responses to the pain of others can be modulated by cognitive and motivational processes, which influence whether observing a conspecific in need of help will result in empathic concern, an important instigator for helping behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

[Psychopathology and treatment of traumatic mental disorders--on the vicissitude and controversy around theory and practice].

Recently, among advanced nations, including the United States, there have been growing interest in trauma related psychopathology. Regarding Japan, since Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake and Sarin gas terrorism by Aum Shinrikyo, interest for psychological trauma has grown high. It is only about twenty years since active research and discussion around these issues started. Therefore, there are still hot dispute around psychopathology of these disorders. Also, therapeutic method is ever progressing. Regarding psychotherapy, there remain a lot of dispute and no general agreement has been made. In this paper, I would like to summarize the literature on psychological trauma and trauma-related psychopathology historically and provide current overview about the theory and practice of this pathology. The summary of the overview is as follows: 1. Psychological trauma is defined as a state caused by traumatic event described in DSM-IV, not as a traumatic event itself. Traumatic mental disorder should be understood as a spectrum of disorders, ranging from phobias and panic reactions related to distinct traumatic events to personality disorders, where intense and chronic traumatic experience is integrated into the personality organization. 2. Historically speaking, traumatic disorders were studied from two directions; war neuroses and etiology of hysteria. Each is corresponds to physioneurosis model and memory processing disturbance model, respectively, which is thought to be two major etiological models of this disorder. 3. Regarding treatment, although corresponding therapeutic idea for each model is provided, currently, most promising treatments are pharmacotherapy using SSRI and novel cognitive-behavioral techniques such as PE (prolonged exposure treatment), SIT (stress inoculation training) and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). As for psychotherapy, hot arguments has been done as to how authentic recovered traumatic memories are and how to deal with them. Regardless of these disputes, it is essential to establish empathic therapeutic bond with the patients.

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic↗