Empathy
Conditions
Brief summary
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of empathy training for psychology student trainees who plan to become mental health practitioners. The training consists of five sessions of psychoeducation, three-role group exercises, and Q&A. Empathy assessment will be based on self-reported, listener-reported, and observer-reported measurements.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEmpathy Training
The intervention contains five themes: 1) An overview of empathy and emotions. 2) Cognitive empathy and clarification technique. 3) Emotional empathy and reflection of feelings technique. 4) Awaring and dealing with the inner feelings while empathizing. 5) Empathy timing and emotional pendulum technique.
Sponsors
Peking University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Adult male and female (aged between 18 and 65 years old) * Major or double major in psychology * Currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students * Taking psychological counselor as one of the major occupational chooses
Exclusion criteria
* Hearing, speech, reading, or writing impairments * A diagnosis of mental disorders * Simultaneously participating in other emotional skills training * Suicidal ideation or self-injurious behavior
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from counseling duration | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 10-minute counseling simulation will be conducted for each participant. The simulation will last 10 minutes or before 10 minutes if the participant gives up midway. The duration time will be recorded to measure the counseling tolerance of the participants. Longer duration indicates better counseling tolerance. |
| Change from Baseline of 12-Item Version of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 12-item empathy self-report, senior-psychological-counselor-report, and simulate-client-report scale measures regard (R), empathic understanding (E), congruence (C), and unconditionality of regard (U) of the therapist. The scoring of each item is from -3 to +3 (12 items, total score varies from -36 to 36). A higher score represents better facilitative conditions the therapist can shape. |
| Change from consultation willingness question inquiry | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A single item inquiry How willing are you to come back for consultation next time? will be asked to the simulation client to measure the ability to build the counselor-client relationship. The item scores from 0 to 4. A higher score represents a higher ability to build the counselor-client relationship. |
| Change from morphed emotion perception task | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | An experimental task measures the ability of emotion perception. Participants need to identify the emotion of facial pictures out of six basic emotions (i.e., anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and happiness). The higher accuracy indicates better emotion perception ability. |
| Change from Baseline of the Measure of Empathy Scale | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | An 8-item empathy self-report scale measures cognitive empathy and emotional empathy on a 5-point Likert scale (score from 1 to 5, and total score vary from 8 to 40). A higher score represents higher empathy ability. |
| Change from Baseline of the Emotion Perception Scale | 1 month | A 13-item emotion perception scale measures the extent of emotions within a month, including anger, happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust, guilt, shame, pressure, depression, inner anger, numbness, and aggrievedness. Each item scores from 0 to 5, with total score varying from 0 to 65. A higher score represents a higher extent of feeling the emotions. |
| Change from Baseline of the Peking Alexithymia Scale | 1 month | A 23-item Peking alexithymia scale measures the ability and willingness to feel, recognize, and share emotions on a 5-point Likert scale (scores from 1 to 5, and total scores vary from 23 to 115). A higher score represents more severe alexithymia. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Baseline of the the Satisfaction with Life Scale | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 5-item satisfaction with life scale measures life satisfaction (score from 1 to 7, and total score vary from 5 to 35). A higher score represents more satisfaction with life. |
| Change from Baseline of the Patient Health Questionnaire | 2 weeks | The 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) measures the depression symptoms (scores from 0 to 3, and total score vary from 0 to 27). A higher score represents worse depression symptoms. |
| Change from Baseline of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale | 1 month | A 10-item Connor-Davidson resilience scale measures resilience (score from 0 to 4, and total score vary from 0 to 40). A higher score represents a higher degree of resilience. |
| Change from Baseline of the the Subjective Happiness Scale | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 4-item subjective happiness scale measures happiness (score from 1 to 7, and total score vary from 4 to 28). A higher score represents a happier state. |
| Change from Baseline of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale | 2 weeks | The generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale (GAD-7) measures the generalized anxiety disorder symptoms (scored from 0 to 3, and total score from 0 to 21). A higher score represents worse anxiety symptoms. |
| Change from Baseline of the Peking Irritability Scale | 1 month | A 17-item irritability measurement scale, Peking irritability scale, measures impulsive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors on a 5-point Likert scale (score from 1 to 5, and total score vary from 17 to 85). A higher score represents higher irritability. |
| Change from Baseline of the the Fatigue Assessment Scale | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 10-item fatigue assessment scale measures the degree of fatigue (score from 1 to 5, and total score vary from 10 to 50). A higher score represents a higher degree of fatigue. |
| Change from Baseline of the the Patient Health Questionnaire | 4 weeks | A 21-item patient health questionnaire measures the extent of semantic symptoms (score from 0 to 2, and total score vary from 0 to 42). A higher score represents a higher degree of semantic problems. |
| Change from Baseline of the Cognitive-Emotion Regulation Questionnaire | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | An 18-item cognitive-emotion regulation questionnaire measures regulation strategy (score from 1 to 5, and total score vary from 18 to 90). A higher score represents higher cognitive-emotion regulation ability. |
| Change from Baseline of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale | Through study completion, an average of 3 month | A 36-item difficulties in emotion regulation scale measures emotion regulation difficulties (score from 1 to 5, and total score vary from 36 to 180). A higher score represents higher difficulties in emotion regulation. |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactYinyin Zang, PhD
Outcome results
None listed