Empathy and Emotional Regulation: A Multi-National Cross-Sectional Study

Empathy and Emotional Regulation as Protective Factors Against Burnout Among Nursing Students: A Multi-National Cross-Sectional Study

Significant levels of psychological disorders and psychological distress among higher education students have been reported worldwide (Galdino et al., 2020), given that during these years there is a peak in prevalence of many mental disorders, particularly major depressive disorder (18.5% to 21.2%), generalized anxiety disorder (18.6% to 16.7%) and drug use disorder (45.9% to 59.8%). (Auerbach et al., 2018). Additionally, compared to other major students, medical school and nursing students experienced higher levels of burnout due to the complex curriculum and pressure for professional performance (Ling et al., 2014). Altogether, this evidence show that nursing students frequently experience psychological and emotional problems such as academic exhaustion, stress, depression, and anxiety during their four years of completing their degree (Hwang & Kim, 2022).

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that addresses the issue of burnout and its relation to empathy and emotional regulation among nursing students at the middle east. Analyzing burnout syndrome among undergraduate nursing students may provide support for managers to implement prevention and management strategies in relation to the syndrome, in order to ensure health and well-being during the professional training process, as well as providing training for nurses engaged and prepared to provide quality care. Thus, this study aims to investigate the burnout syndrome among nursing students and its relation to empathy and emotional regulation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Burnout; Emotional Regulation; Empathy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: No intervention

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1987

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ahmed Hashem El-Monshed, Ph.D; Phone Number: +201009976771; Email: ahmed_elmonshed@mans.edu.eg

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Dakhlyia
    • Mansoura, Dakhlyia, Egypt, 35511
      • Recruiting
      • Faculty of Nursing
      • Contact: Ahmed Salah, PhD; Phone Number: +20 100 737 5871

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Undergraduate nursing students from the five full-time levels

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Undergraduate nursing students from the five full-time levels

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS)	The MBI-SS is made up of 15 items that constitute three scales: emotional exhaustion (EX; five items), cynicism (CY; four items), and academic efficacy (AE; six items). All the items are scored by using a seven-point Likert scale [from 0 (never) to 6 (always)]. High scores on EX, CY and low scores on AE were indicative of burnout (Academic efficacy items are reversed scored). According to the MBI-SS, high scores in the subscale of EX and CY indicate burnout, whereas low scores in AE indicate burnout.	Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Student version (JSE-HPS)	The JSE-HPS was developed with the preliminary psychometric data published in 2001 and is copyrighted by Thomas Jefferson University. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was originally developed to allow the measurement of empathy in physician cohorts (Hojat et al., 2001). However, given the importance of empathy as an undergraduate student trait, a number of research teams have adapted the JSPE for use with students from healthcare professions other than medicine (Fields et al., 2011; Fjortoft et al., 2011). The JSE-HPS consists of 20 items, which are responded on a seven-point Likert scale with 1 being strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree for positively responded items and 1 being strongly agree and 7 being strongly disagree otherwise	Baseline
Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)	Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) (Gross & John, 2003). This questionnaire is a 10-item self-report measure of two emotion regulation strategies: emotional suppression (ES; 4 items) and cognitive reappraisal (CR; 6 items). The participants responded on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The total score ranged from 10 to 70 and the mean score was utilized, with a higher score presenting a higher level of emotion regulation strategies	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mansoura University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 15, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2023
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 28, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 28, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 10, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 10, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 28, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Burnout, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: EmpathyMulti-National7

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No