Mediating role of self-compassion in relationship between attachment styles and empathy in nurses

Mohammad Hassan Asayesh; Yasser Rezapour-Mirsaleh; Fahimeh Koohestani; Naghmeh Asadi

doi:10.1186/s12912-024-02222-2

Mediating role of self-compassion in relationship between attachment styles and empathy in nurses

BMC Nurs. 2024 Aug 9;23(1):545. doi: 10.1186/s12912-024-02222-2.

Authors

Mohammad Hassan Asayesh¹, Yasser Rezapour-Mirsaleh², Fahimeh Koohestani³, Naghmeh Asadi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Educational Psychology & Counseling, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Ardakan University, Ayatallah Khatami Blv, Ardakan, P.O. Box184, Iran. y.rezapour@ardakan.ac.ir.
³ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Literature & Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran.
⁴ Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Ardakan University, Ayatallah Khatami Blv, Ardakan, P.O. Box184, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Empathy with the patient is one of the important factors in nursing care. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between attachment styles and empathy in nurses.

Materials and methods: This correlational study was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The statistical population included nurses working at public hospitals in Yazd City, Iran. A total of 308 nurses were selected by convenience sampling method. The data were collected using self-compassion scale, adult attachment styles scale, Jefferson scale of empathy and analyzed using structural equation analysis in AMOS software.

Results: Secure and anxious/ambivalent insecure attachment styles were positively and negatively correlated with empathy, respectively (p < .01). The path coefficient between avoidant and anxious/ambivalent insecure attachment styles and self-compassion was negative. On the contrary, the path coefficient between secure attachment style and self-compassion was positive. There was a positive correlation between self-compassion and empathy. The indirect path coefficient of secure and anxious/ambivalent insecure attachment styles to empathy through self-compassion. was significant (p < .01).

Conclusion: The results showed secure and anxious/ambivalent insecure attachment could directly and indirectly through influencing self-compassion predict empathy in nurses.

Keywords: Attachment styles; Empathy; Nurses; Self-compassion.