The relationship between empathy and personality traits in Saudi medical students.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is regarded as a fundamental personal attribute for in-training and in-practice doctors. Several factors may play a significant role to facilitate or prevent the ability of doctors' empathy toward their patients. The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship of empathy with personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) among undergraduate medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was based on a correlational, cross-sectional design and was conducted from January 2020 to April 2020. The sample consisted of 301 undergraduate medical students studying in different medical colleges situated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Personal information form, the big-five personality inventory, and the interpersonal reactivity index scales were administered. Obtained data were analyzed by applying several methods such as mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multivariable linear regression. RESULTS: Regression analysis revealed that personality dimensions accounted for 10-19% of the variance in scores of empathy sub-dimensions of perspective-taking, empathetic concern, fantasy, and personal distress. Agreeableness was found to be associated with empathetic concern and perspective-taking. Openness to experience was found to be significantly related to perspective-taking and fantasy, whereas extraversion was negatively associated with perspective-taking. Neuroticism had an association with personal distress, empathetic concern, and fantasy. Additionally, no gender difference was observed and students with people-oriented specialty preferences showed significantly higher scores on empathy sub-domains than technology-oriented students. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that personality dimensions play a notable role to predict empathetic behaviors among Saudi undergraduate medical students. This study would help to design individualized strategies by incorporating personality dimensions in the training program to enhance empathetic behavior among medical students.

Relationship between psychological distress and resilience in rescue workers.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between psychological distress and resilience in rescue workers. Following hypothesis was formulated; there would be negative correlation between psychological distress and resilience in rescue workers.  METHOD: A correlational study was conducted from June-August 2015 in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. The sample of the present study consisted of 100 rescue workers. The age of the participants ranged from 23 to 40 year old with the mean age of 27.4±3.9 years. Demographic information form, Kessler psychological distress scale and adult resilience measure were administered on the participants to assess the level of psychological distress and resilience.   RESULTS: Pearson product moment coefficient of correlation was applied to analyze the relationship of psychological distress and resilience. Analysis of the result indicated that there is negative relationship between psychological distress and resilience (r= -0.203, p less than 0.01) in rescue workers. Further, contextual factors (r= -0.292, p less than 0.05) and its subcomponents including spiritual beliefs (r= -0.239, p less than 0.05) and cultural resources (r= -0.287, p less than 0.01) were also found to be inversely correlated with psychological distress.  CONCLUSION: The research evidenced that rescue workers were experiencing psychological distress Resilience factors should be considered while designing trainings to preserve mental health and to enhance the psychological well-being of rescue workers.

Relationship between perceived social self-efficacy and depression in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship of perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE) with depression in students. METHODS: The sample of the present study consisted of 216 adolescent students including 120 males and 96 females randomly selected from different educational institutes of Karachi, Pakistan. The age of the participants ranged from 16 to 19 years old, with the mean age of 17.09 ± 1.13 years. Personal information form, PSSE scale, and Siddiqui-Shah depression scale were administered on the adolescent students to check the following hypothesis; there would be a negative correlation between PSSE and depression in adolescents. RESULTS: Pearson product moment coefficient of correlation was applied to analyze the relationship between PSSE and level of depression in adolescent students. Findings of the study showed a significant negative correlation (r = -0.149, p < 0.05) between the variables of PSSE and depression. CONCLUSION: There is a relationship between PSSE and depression in adolescents.