Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the role of gender, age, and academic year in shaping dispositional mindfulness (DM) and the association between DM facets and empathy dimensions in a sample of undergraduate nursing students. In a multicenter cross-sectional study design, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and socio-demographic questions were administrated to a convenience sample of Italian nursing students. 622 nursing students (82.2% female) participated in the study (response rate = 86.15%). Females had higher levels of Acting with Awareness (p < .001, d = .54) and lower levels of Non-reacting (p < .001, d = .52) facets of DM than males. Older students displayed higher scores on the Observing (r = .112, p = .005) and on the Non-reacting (r = .187, p < .001) FFMQ subscales than younger ones. No statistically significant differences in DM levels between the three academic years were found (ps > .202). After controlling for socio-demographic factors, DM facets were generally positively related to Perspective Taking (βs from .131 to .208, ps < .007) and Empathic Concern (βs from −.156 to .189, ps < .001), whereas negatively related to Personal Distress (βs from −.141 to −.261, ps < .001). Nursing students with higher levels of DM were more able to consider others’ cognitive perspective and to feel compassion, and were less emotionally distressed when facing tense interpersonal situations. Tailored mindfulness interventions might be useful to foster functional empathy within nursing undergraduate programs.
Highlights
Empathy is a crucial aspect of a functional and effective patient-nurse relationship with nurses’ good empathetic capacities being linked to greater well-being and satisfaction (Richardson et al, 2012), greater treatment compliance and better health outcomes in patients (Derksen et al, 2017)
Research has detected several skills and qualities linked to empathy which characterized dispositional mindfulness (DM) including receptivity, non-judgmental attitudes, active listening, the ability to free the mind from distractions, and to remain in the “here and ” (Ardenghi et al, 2021a)
Many efforts have been made to assess the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on nursing professionals’ and students’ empathy, little attention has been paid to the association of DM and empathy in nursing students
Summary
Empathy is a crucial aspect of a functional and effective patient-nurse relationship with nurses’ good empathetic capacities being linked to greater well-being and satisfaction (Richardson et al, 2012), greater treatment compliance and better health outcomes in patients (Derksen et al, 2017). Current Psychology growing interest in detecting the dispositional variables, such as attachment styles (Ardenghi et al, 2020a), personal values (Ardenghi et al, 2021b), emotion regulation (Ardenghi et al, 2021d; Salvarani et al, 2020), patientcentered orientation (Ardenghi et al, 2020b), self-efficacy and personality traits (Barbaranelli et al, 2021) to nurture healthcare students and professionals’ empathic competencies and decrease emotional distress In this pursuit, research has detected several skills and qualities linked to empathy which characterized dispositional mindfulness (DM) including receptivity, non-judgmental attitudes, active listening, the ability to free the mind from distractions, and to remain in the “here and ” (Ardenghi et al, 2021a). Mindfulness exercises seem to produce changes in the same brain areas that have been linked to empathy, namely the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula (Shamay-Tsoory, 2011)
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