Empathy’s relationship with adult attachment, self-esteem, and communication self-efficacy in nurses

This study used descriptive correlation to examine factors affecting empathy in nurses, specifically, how empathy relates to adult attachment, self-esteem, and communication self-efficacy. Data were collected from March 16until March 27, 2015. A survey was administered to 100 nurses working in two university hospitals located in D city and K province. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0; general characteristics and variables were tested using descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages. At-test and one-way ANOVA were used to test empathy according to general characteristics; Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test empathy’s correlation with each variable. Factors affecting empathy were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression. The results are as follows: No differences in participants’ general characteristics were found. Participants exhibiting higher attachment avoidance exhibited lower empathy; higher attachment anxiety and communication self-efficacy were correlated with higher empathy. Self-esteem was not significantly correlated with empathy. Attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and communication self-efficacy were found to affect empathy, with 13.1% total explanatory power. This study is significant as it identifies factors affecting empathy in nurses; this basic information may be used to structure intervention studies on empathy enhancement.