Dores Artemisa R, Martins Helena, Reis Ana C, Carvalho Irene P
Center for Rehabilitation Research, School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
Departamento HM, School of Business and Economics, Lusófona University, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Apr 22;9(5):497. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9050497.
This study aimed to examine the patterns of associations between empathy and coping among undergraduate men and women studying at Allied Health Sciences. This cross-sectional study is part of a larger longitudinal study conducted in an Allied Health Sciences School. Participants were 183 undergraduate students from 12 training programs (e.g., Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy). Their mean age was 20.79 years ( = 2.64), and they were in their first, third, and fourth years of school. The instruments were the Brief-COPE and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Empathy correlated with coping strategies in both genders, though showing different patterns of association. First, distinct coping strategies were associated with the same empathy dimension (perspective taking) among women (positive reframing and self-blame) and among men (active coping). Second, the same three coping strategies appeared in both genders (seeking emotional or instrumental support and resorting to religion) but associated with different empathy dimensions (cognitive empathy among women and mostly emotional empathy among men). Third, among women (but not among men), two coping strategies (positive reframing and behavioral disengagement) were each simultaneously correlated with cognitive and emotional empathy in opposite directions. Fourth, emotional empathy correlated, only among women, with several coping strategies considered to be maladaptive (behavioral disengagement, denial and substance use). Among men, only one significant coping strategy was considered to be maladaptive (behavioral disengagement) and it was negatively correlated with cognitive empathy (perspective taking). Unlike in women, relationships between the empathic dimension of fantasy and coping strategies were non-significant among men. These distinct patterns of associations emerged despite significant differences in empathy by gender (fantasy, personal distress and empathic concern) and in coping strategies (instrumental support, emotional support, religion and venting). These results support the idea that the display of empathy might be associated with gender differences in the underlying empathy dimensions and in the coping strategies used to deal with stress in the undergraduate programs of Allied Health Sciences.
本研究旨在探讨联合健康科学专业本科男女学生的同理心与应对方式之间的关联模式。这项横断面研究是在一所联合健康科学学院进行的一项更大规模纵向研究的一部分。参与者是来自12个培训项目（如物理治疗、职业治疗、言语治疗）的183名本科学生。他们的平均年龄为20.79岁（标准差 = 2.64），处于大学一、三、四年级。所使用的工具是简易应对方式问卷（Brief-COPE）和人际反应指针量表（IRI）。同理心与男女两性的应对策略均相关，不过呈现出不同的关联模式。首先，在女性（积极重新评价和自责）和男性（积极应对）中，不同的应对策略与相同的同理心维度（观点采择）相关。其次，男女两性都出现了相同的三种应对策略（寻求情感或工具性支持以及求助宗教），但与不同的同理心维度相关（女性为认知同理心，男性主要为情感同理心）。第三，在女性中（男性不存在这种情况），两种应对策略（积极重新评价和行为脱离）分别与认知同理心和情感同理心呈相反方向的同时相关。第四，情感同理心仅在女性中与几种被认为是适应不良的应对策略（行为脱离、否认和物质使用）相关。在男性中，只有一种显著的应对策略被认为是适应不良的（行为脱离），且与认知同理心（观点采择）呈负相关。与女性不同，男性中幻想的同理心维度与应对策略之间的关系不显著。尽管在同理心（幻想、个人痛苦和同理心关注）和应对策略（工具性支持、情感支持、宗教和宣泄）方面存在显著的性别差异，但仍出现了这些不同的关联模式。这些结果支持了这样一种观点，即在联合健康科学本科专业中，同理心的表现可能与潜在的同理心维度以及用于应对压力的应对策略中的性别差异有关。
