Is personal distress a part of empathy? A re-analysis of the multidimensional empathy concept

The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1983) combined the four factors empathic concern, perspective taking, personal distress and the fantasy scale into a multidimensional concept of empathy that is still generally valid today. On the basis of the German translation of the IRI, the Saarbrücken Personality Questionnaire on Empathy (SPF), two different model adjustments were examined with the help of structural equations: a general factor model of empathy and the previous multidimensional model. The calculations were based on questionnaire data from 7 668 subjects at the age from 10 and 80 years, some of which were collected online. It turned out that the multidimensional concept was superior to the general factor model, but without including the personal distress scale (NPAR = 31, RMSEA = .06, PCLOSE = .00, SRMR = .04, CFI = .96). Distress can theoretically be regarded as a consequence of empathy and should therefore not to be considered as a part of the theoretical empathy concept

The effectiveness of empathy training in health care: a meta-analysis of training content and methods

Objectives: The meta-analysis examined the question of whether empathy training is effective in health care and whether specific training content and methods can be found to account for its effectiveness. Methods: We included 13 out of 50 studies (total N = 1315) that fulfilled the search criteria. R version 4.0.5 with the esc, meta, metafor, and dmetar packages and SPSS28 were used to conduct the meta-analysis based on the random-effects model. The effect sizes were calculated using Hedge`s g, and heterogeneity was tested using Cochran's Q. In addition, the multicollinearity of the moderators was checked. Results: The overall effect size (Hedge´s g = 0.58, s = 0.10, p = 0.00) indicated a moderate effect of empathy training. There was a significant heterogeneity (I2 = 76.9%, Q = 84.82, p=0.00), thus we examined whether individual training methods have influenced effect sizes, which could not be confirmed (F (8,4) = 0.98, p = 0.55). The same applied to the training contents (F (6,6) = 0.27, p = 0.93). Conclusions: The present study showed that empathy training could be effective. This confirmed previous findings and supported the use of such training. However, according to our results, no significant moderators could be found, i.e., the training contents or methods did not contribute to the effect sizes. For meaningful findings, a comparison of different training components should definitely be made, and it should be investigated whether empathy training spread over a period of time is more effective and sustainable than one-time training

Development of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Teachers (JSE-T) to Measure Empathy in Educationally Relevant Situations

The Jefferson Scale of Empathy is one of the most commonly used scales in medical education to measure empathy. It is specific to the field of medical education and geared toward orienting medical students to physician empathy in patient care situations. The scale was transferred to the educational context in teacher education. In doing so, the questionnaire was reduced from the original 20 items to 9 because of content and methodological issues. A CFA showed good model-fit parameters for a three-factor model, and correlations with the German version of the Interpersonal reactivity Index were in line with the magnitudes reported in previous literature. In total, the JST-E scales show evidence for their factorial and convergent validity and their reliability. The JSE-T proves to be a good instrument for measuring empathy in educational contexts and thus closes the gap between trait measurement procedures such as the IRI and concrete-situational judgment tests, so that an economical, multidimensional testing of empathy becomes possible

Virtual teaching in the educational science and its use in teacher-training

Das Nutzerverhalten von Studierenden eines Onlinekurses in der FR Bildungswissenschaft wird anhand der Analyse der Logfiles dargestellt und die Vor- und Nachteile eines Onlinekurses im Rahmen der Lehrerausbildung werden dargestelltThe user behavior of participants of an online course in the FR education science will be analyzed on the basis of the log files and the pro and cons of an on-line course in the context of the teacher training will be discusse