Empathy

Oxytocin (OXT), a neuropeptide consisting of only nine amino acids, is synthesized in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus. Although OXT is best known for its role in lactation and parturition, recent research has shown that it also has a significant impact on social behaviors in mammals. However, a comprehensive review of this topic is still lacking. In this paper, we systematically reviewed the effects of OXT on social behavior in mammals. These effects of OXT from the perspective of five key behavioral dimensions were summarized: parental behavior, anxiety, aggression, attachment, and empathy...

Studying heroism in controlled settings presents challenges and ethical controversies due to its association with physical risk. Leveraging virtual reality (VR) technology, we conducted a three-study series with 397 participants from China to investigate heroic actions. Participants unexpectedly witnessed a criminal event in a simulated scenario, allowing observation of their tendency to physically intercept a thief. We examined situational factors (voluntariness, authority, and risk) and personal variables [gender, impulsivity, empathy, and social value orientation (SVO)] that may influence heroism...

BACKGROUND: Caring in Africa is often viewed from sociopolitical and humanity perspectives. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the meanings and expressions of caring from the narratives of persons living with cancer and their nurses. METHODS: This study adopted a qualitative ethnonursing methodology. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the key participants, who were grouped into 7 nurses and 6 patients. General participants included 4 physicians, 3 ward assistants, and 6 patients' relatives...

Empathy is significant in nursing, and showing empathy toward a patient positively impacts a patient's health. Learning empathy through immersive simulations is effective. Immersion is an essential factor in virtual reality. This study aimed to describe nursing students' experiences of empathy in a virtual reality simulation game. Data were collected from nursing students (n = 20) from May 2021 to January 2022. Data collection included individual semistructured interviews; before the interviews, the virtual reality gaming procedure was conducted...

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual well-being and empathic tendencies of midwifery students and the affecting factors. The sample of this descriptive-correlation type study, one of the descriptive research methods, included 237 midwifery students. The data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form, the Empathic Tendency Scale, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Empathic tendency was higher among those who chose the midwifery department voluntarily, those who liked the department, those who felt that the department was suitable for them, those who participated in social and scientific activities, those who wanted to progress in the profession, those who wanted to work in the field and those who followed publications related to the field; Spiritual well-being was higher among those who felt that the department was suitable for them, those who participated in social and scientific activities, those who wanted to progress in the profession, those who participated in activities that provided the development of the profession, those who wanted to work in the field and those who followed publications related to the field...

BACKGROUND: Clinicians working with patients at risk of suicide often experience high stress, which can result in negative emotional responses (NERs). Such negative emotional responses may lead to less empathic communication (EC) and unintentional rejection of the patient, potentially damaging the therapeutic alliance and adversely impacting suicidal outcomes. Therefore, clinicians need training to effectively manage negative emotions toward suicidal patients to improve suicidal outcomes...

INTRODUCTION: The article focuses on the professional quality of life of medical residents, and specifically on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Previous studies have indicated high levels of emotional stress among residents. Most of these studies were conducted within the positivistic paradigm. The qualitative study concentrates on pediatric residents during ER rotations in both routine and pandemic times. AIMS: The research goal is to explore how compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction are manifested among the residents...

BACKGROUND: Despite decades of anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) interventions in academic medicine, medical racism continues to harm patients and healthcare providers. We sought to deeply explore experiences and beliefs about medical racism among academic clinicians to understand the drivers of persistent medical racism and to inform intervention design. METHODS: We interviewed academically-affiliated clinicians with any racial identity from the Departments of Family Medicine, Cardiac Sciences, Emergency Medicine, and Medicine to understand their experiences and perceptions of medical racism...

AIM: This research aimed to assess the impact of the online "Positive Psychotherapy- Based Key Model of Courtesy and Integrity" (KMCI)" program on the effective communication skills of nursing students. BACKGROUND: With the growing integration of virtual platforms in psychotherapy education, there is a burgeoning interest in understanding their influence on nursing student's communication abilities. Recognizing how online positive psychotherapy education shapes these skills is pivotal for enriching nursing education and practice...

BACKGROUND: Leveraging military veterans' intimate relationships during treatment has the potential to concurrently improve posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and relationship quality. Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) and an 8-session Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (bCBCT) are manualized treatments designed to simultaneously improve PTSD and relationship functioning for couples in which one partner has PTSD. Although efficacious in improving PTSD, the effects of CBCT on relationship satisfaction are small, especially among veterans...

This study investigated the relationship between psychopathy, as assessed by the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy (LSRP) scale, and cerebral laterality. EEG recordings from frontal cortex (L3 and L4) were taken during both resting conditions and while viewing a video of an emergency field amputation, used as an empathic challenge. The ratio of alpha power from the two recording site was taken as an index of relative activity in the two hemispheres. Eighty three students from the University subject pool were recruited as participants...

BACKGROUND: Empathy is a critical component of nursing care, impacting both nurses' and patients' outcomes. However, perceived empathy from spouses during pregnancy and its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are unclear. This study aimed to examine pregnant women's perceived empathy from their spouses and assess the relation of perceived empathy on HRQoL. METHODS: This cross-sectional study, performed in the obstetric clinics or wards of four well-known hospitals in Anhui Province, China, included 349 pregnant women in the second or third trimester; participants were recruited by convenience sampling and enrolled from October to December 2021...

Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic shown to have enduring antidepressant effects. Currently, the mechanism for its enduring effects is not well understood. Empathy and prosocial behavior may be important for understanding the therapeutic benefit of psilocybin. In this article we review the effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior. Moreover, we propose that psilocybin may induce a positive feedback loop involving empathy and prosocial behavior which helps explain the observed, enduring antidepressant effects...

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning is used widely in pharmacy and medical programmes, incorporating realistic patient scenarios into regular teaching as a way of linking theory to practice. Routine case-based learning lessons ranges from real patient involvement, scripted patient scenarios, digital simulations (avatars) as well as through media such as Zoom. The existing literature has explored the extensive benefits of using patients in clinical education, but fewer studies have directly compared the efficacy of each model as learning tools...

Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) are widely employed survey-based methods to assess preferences for healthcare services and products. While they offer an experimental way to represent health-related decisions, the stylized representation of scenarios in DCEs may overlook contextual factors that could influence decision-making. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the predictive validity of preferences elicited through a DCE in decisions likely influenced by a hot-cold empathy gap, and compare it to another commonly used method, a direct-elicitation question...

We investigated whether informal meditation practice (i.e., self-reported application of meditative techniques outside a period of formal meditation) was associated with outcomes in smartphone-based loving-kindness and compassion training. Meditation-naïve participants (n = 351) with clinically elevated symptoms completed measures of psychological distress, loneliness, empathy, and prosociality at baseline and following a two-week intervention. Informal practice, psychological distress, and loneliness were also assessed daily...

OBJECTIVES: Two studies were conducted to better understand how children with intellectual disabilities (ID) empathize with the feelings of others during social interactions. The first study tested hypotheses of developmental delay or difference regarding empathy in 79 children with ID by comparing them with typically developing (TD) children, matched for developmental age or chronological age. The second study examined specific aspects of empathy in 23 children with Down syndrome (DS), compared with 23 nonspecific ID children, matched for developmental age, and TD children, matched for developmental age or chronological age...

Active migration and globalization have led to increased opportunities for critical care nurses to care for patients from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. This study thus aimed to identify the individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors affecting cultural competence levels among neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses based on an ecological model. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study that included 135 NICU nurses in South Korea. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted using the proposed ecological model, and a regression model for each of the four subdomains of cultural competence was constructed and compared...

This article explores the feminist social critique in the 'big heroine' drama, a newly emerged genre of television that focuses on empowering yet dramatic stories of urban women in contemporary China. The article theorises the genre as a site of ongoing contestations to inform and critique women's maternal reality in neoliberal, pronatalist China. The big heroine genre is situated in the postsocialist structure of feeling defined by alienation and precarity, responding to China's need to stabilise the emerging population crisis and labour shortage...

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals require many personal attributes in addition to cognitive abilities and psychomotor skills for competent practice. Multiple Mini- Interviews are being employed globally to assess personality attributes of candidates for selection in health professions education at all level of entry; these attributes are namely, communication skills, critical thinking, honesty, responsibility, health advocacy, empathy and sanctity of life. Considering the high stakes involved for students, faculty, institutions and the society, rigorous quality assurance mechanisms similar to those used for student assessment must be employed for student selection, throughout the continuum of medical education...