Empathy under stress - Investigating the connection between attachment styles and empathy under the influence of stress

Empathy under stress - Investigating the connection between attachment styles and empathy under the influence of stress - EUS-Study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00040207

Enrollment

400

Registered

2026-05-05

Start date

2026-05-05

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-08-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Previous research indicates that both attachment style and stress influence empathy. However, this influence manifests itself in a complex and sometimes contradictory way. It remains unclear, in particular, how much acute stress reduces empathy and whether insecurely attached individuals—especially certain subgroups (e.g., insecure-avoidant)—are more affected. This study therefore examines how attachment style and acute stress interact to influence state empathy and whether clinically relevant p

Interventions

Group 1: Participation begins with reading the study information and providing informed consent. Participants then answer demographic questions as well as questionnaires on attachment style (ASQ-F) an

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Sufficient German language skills, a declaration of consent before participating in the study, and access to a computer/smartphone (online study).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Exclusion criteria include being under 18 years of age, lack of German language skills, current severe mental illness (self-reported), and incomplete data sets.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The central focus is on state empathy following stress induction, measured using the State Empathy Scale (Shen, 2010). The primary outcome measure is the mean state empathy score in the stress group versus the control group. This endpoint allows for the direct examination of the central research question: whether acute stress reduces empathy and whether this effect is moderated by attachment style. Sociodemographic data such as age and gender are collected, as these can influence the strength of the correlations.	—

Measure

Time frame

The central focus is on state empathy following stress induction, measured using the State Empathy Scale (Shen, 2010). The primary outcome measure is the mean state empathy score in the stress group versus the control group. This endpoint allows for the direct examination of the central research question: whether acute stress reduces empathy and whether this effect is moderated by attachment style. Sociodemographic data such as age and gender are collected, as these can influence the strength of the correlations.

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
The secondary endpoints are (1) trait empathy; (2) subjective stress perception after stress induction; (3) attachment style and its categorization into secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent.	—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactAnna-Maria Kisic

Klinisches Institut für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, Medizinische Fakultät und Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

anna-maria.kisic@med.uni-duesseldorf.de+492118116240

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Aug 10, 2026