Human connections and their roles in the occupational well-being of healthcare professionals: A study on loneliness and empathy

  1. Soler-Gonzalez, J. 35
  2. San-Martín, M. 146
  3. Delgado-Bolton, R. 12
  4. Vivanco, L. 1
  1. 1 Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja
    info

    Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03vfjzd38

  2. 2 Hospital San Pedro
    info

    Hospital San Pedro

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/031va0421

  3. 3 Universitat de Lleida
    info

    Universitat de Lleida

    Lleida, España

    ROR https://ror.org/050c3cw24

  4. 4 Universidad de Granada
    info

    Universidad de Granada

    Granada, España

    ROR https://ror.org/04njjy449

  5. 5 Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Lleida
    info

    Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Lleida

    Lleida, España

  6. 6 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

Revista:
Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN: 1664-1078

Año de publicación: 2017

Volumen: 8

Número: AUG

Páginas: 1475

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.3389/FPSYG.2017.01475 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-85028507993 WoS: WOS:000408710900001 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: Frontiers in Psychology

Resumen

Human connections are key to the promotion of health and prevention of illness; moreover, illness can cause deterioration of human connections. Healthcare professional–patient relationships are key to ensuring the preservation of adequate human connections. It is important for healthcare professionals to develop their ability to foster satisfactory human connections because: (i) they represent social support for patients; and (ii) they prevent work-related stress. In this study we assessed the relationship between absence (loneliness) and presence (empathy) of human connections with the occupational well-being of healthcare professionals. The Scale of Collateral Effects, which measures somatization, exhaustion, and work alienation; the Jefferson Scale of Empathy; and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, were mailed to 628 healthcare professionals working in Spanish public healthcare institutions. The following explanatory variables were used to evaluate work well-being: (a) empathy, as a professional competence; (b) loneliness, age, and family burden, as psychological indicators; and (c) professional experience, work dedication, and salary, as work indicators. Comparison, correlation, and regression analyses were performed to measure the relationships among these variables and occupational well-being. Of 628 surveys mailed, 433 (69% response rate) were returned fully completed. Adequate reliability was confirmed for all instruments. The entire sample was divided into four groups, based on the combined variable, “occupation by sex.” Comparative analyses demonstrated differences among “occupation by sex” groups in collateral effects (p = 0.03) and empathy (p = 0.04), but not loneliness (p = 0.84). Inverse associations between empathy and collateral effects were confirmed for somatization (r = −0.16; p < 0.001), exhaustion (r = −0.14; p = 0.003), and work alienation (r = −0.16; p < 0.001). Furthermore, loneliness was positively associated with collateral effects (r = 0.22; p < 0.001). Neither family burden, nor work dedication to clinics or management activities were associated with the three collateral effects measured. These findings support an important role for empathy in the prevention of work stress in healthcare professionals. They also confirm that loneliness, as a multidimensional and domain specific experience, is detrimental to occupational well-being. © 2017 Soler-Gonzalez, San-Martín, Delgado-Bolton and Vivanco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).