Relationship between Balanced Emotional Empathy and Life Satisfaction,and Alexithymia in Nurses, Midwives and Operating Room Technicians

Background and Objective: Alexithymia is a personality trait associated with difficulties in emotion recognition, regulation and emotional processing. However, in the field of health and care, emotions and affects play an important role in the relationship between specialists and patients, and in general, life satisfaction. This study aimed at determining the relationship between balanced emotional empathy and life satisfaction and Alexithymia in Nurses, midwives and operating room technicians. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken on ۳۰۰ Nurses, midwives and operating room technicians selected via stratified random sampling in Kermanshah and Hamadan provinces, ۲۰۱۲.the instruments were Emotional Empathy Scale of Mehrabian & Epstein, Life Satisfaction Scale of Diener et al and Toronto alexithymia scale. Using SPSS-۱۸, the data was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. Results: The results indicated that the mean score of alexithymia in midwives (۶۲.۱۹±۱۱.۶۶), life satisfaction in nurses (۵۰.۴±۸۵.۱۳) and emotional empathy in nurses (۴۰.۱۲ ± ۹۵.۱۰۰) was higher. The results showed that both life satisfaction (r=-۰.۱۳, P<۰.۰۵) and balanced emotional empathy (r=-۰.۱۶) had negative significant correlation with alexithymia (p<۰.۰۵). Based on regression analysis, life satisfaction (;beta =-۰.۱۸) and balanced emotional empathy (;beta =-۰.۱۵) were the negative significant predictors of alexithymia. Conclusion: Given the results, we recommend considering the role of empathy in healthcare settings and the enhancement of life satisfaction among hospital staff.

Keywords:

Balanced Emotional Empathy , Life Satisfaction , Alexithymia , همدلی هیجانی متعادل , رضایت از زندگی , ناگویی هیجانی