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Empathy is Associated with Meaning of Life and Mental Health Treatment but not Religiosity Among Brazilian Medical Students

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of spirituality, religiosity, personal beliefs, and previous contact with health issues on the level of empathy in medical students. Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student Version, WHOQOL-Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs, and Duke University Religion Index were applied to 285 Brazilian medical students. The findings suggest that meaning of life and previous mental health treatment but not Religiosity were positively related to empathy. We suggest that more attention should be given for prevention and treatment of mental health issues, and further studies are needed to understand and replicate these findings.

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Funding

Amanda Guedes dos Santos and Barbara Almeida da Silva received grant from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq—Institutional Program For Undergraduate Research Grants, PIBIC), Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Rua Bruno Biagioni, 115, Sorocaba, SP, CEP 18051-870, Brazil

    Rodolfo Furlan Damiano, Amanda Guedes dos Santos & Barbara Almeida da Silva

  2. Department of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil

    Luciana Maria de Andrade Ribeiro

  3. School of Medicine, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

    Giancarlo Lucchetti

Authors
  1. Rodolfo Furlan Damiano
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  2. Luciana Maria de Andrade Ribeiro
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  3. Amanda Guedes dos Santos
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  4. Barbara Almeida da Silva
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  5. Giancarlo Lucchetti
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Correspondence to Rodolfo Furlan Damiano.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Damiano, R.F., de Andrade Ribeiro, L.M., dos Santos, A.G. et al. Empathy is Associated with Meaning of Life and Mental Health Treatment but not Religiosity Among Brazilian Medical Students. J Relig Health 56, 1003–1017 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0321-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0321-9

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