Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Background: Empathy is essential for enhancing care quality, making its understanding and predictors crucial for healthcare education. Objective: To investigate empathy evolution and its predictors among first-year health professional students at a university in Albania. Methods: A longitudinal coho...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Nursing Reports Vol. 15; no. 9; pp. 316 - 327
Autores principales: Caponnetto, Valeria, Gaxhja, Elona, Taka, Ilda, Prifti, Elona, Masotta, Vittorio, Paoli, Ilaria, Lancia, Loreto, Dante, Angelo, Petrucci, Cristina
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: MDPI Sep2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=188321281&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 188321281
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        2039439X
        EGNT
      jtl: Nursing Reports
      issn: 2039439X
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Sep2025
      vid: 15
      iid: 9
      pid: 97109
      pub: MDPI
    artinfo:
      ui:
        188321281
        188321281
        188321281
        10.3390/nursrep15090316
        188321281
      ppf: 316
      ppct: 11
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
      tig:
        atl: Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.
      aug:
        au:
          Caponnetto, Valeria
          Gaxhja, Elona
          Taka, Ilda
          Prifti, Elona
          Masotta, Vittorio
          Paoli, Ilaria
          Lancia, Loreto
          Dante, Angelo
          Petrucci, Cristina
        affil: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy
      sug:
        subj:
          Empathy Evaluation
          Students, Health Occupations Psychosocial Factors
          Students, Undergraduate Psychosocial Factors
          Colleges and Universities Albania
          Prediction Models
          Human
          Albania
          Female
          Male
          Adolescence
          Young Adult
          Prospective Studies
          Scales
          Sociodemographic Factors
          Sample Size Determination
          T-Tests
          Mann-Whitney U Test
          Confidence Intervals
          Linear Regression
          Univariate Statistics
          Multivariate Analysis
          Regression
          Data Analysis Software
          Descriptive Statistics
          Effect Size
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Female
          Male
      ab: Background: Empathy is essential for enhancing care quality, making its understanding and predictors crucial for healthcare education. Objective: To investigate empathy evolution and its predictors among first-year health professional students at a university in Albania. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted on a total of 206 participants (78.2% female, mean age 18.4 years), with empathy assessed at baseline and program completion using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professional Students. Results: The findings revealed stable empathy levels overall (p = 0.369), with no significant differences between nursing and other students. Approximately 52.9% experienced empathy gains, while 44.7% experienced losses, yielding an average score change of +0.7 (SD = 14.9). A younger age and lower baseline empathy scores were significant predictors of empathy gains, as shown by regression analyses. Conclusions: The study highlights a dual empathy trajectory among students and emphasizes a person-centered approach to health professional education to foster empathy development.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N