Resilience as a Predictor of Empathy in Dental Students in Latin America: A Multicentre Study

Journal
European Journal of Dental Education
ISSN
1396-5883
Date Issued
2025-07-22
Author(s)
Víctor P. Díaz‐Narváez
José Gamarra‐Moncayo
Natalia Fortich‐Mesa
Juan David Salcedo Salgado
Luz Marina Alonso Palacio
Edwin Rafael De la Cruz‐Rocha
Lesbia Tirado Amador
Ana María Erazo Coronado
Wilmer Sepúlveda Navarro
Leonardo Epuyao González
Maricarmen Espinoza Retamal
Patricio Jaramillo Cavieres
Yolanda Dávila Pontón
Clarisse Díaz‐Reissner
Magali Janeth García Vásquez
Luis Armando Vila Sierra
Sara Huerta‐González
Type
journal-article
DOI
URL
Abstract
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction</jats:title><jats:p>Empathy is an attribute that allows an intersubjective connection between dental students and their patients, which benefits both. Empathy can be affected by stress, depression and distress, which can have consequences for empathic capacity. One factor attributed to the ability to inhibit this negative influence is resilience.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To determine the predictive capacity of resilience on empathy.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title><jats:p>A total of 3893 dental students from five Latin American countries participated. Resilience and empathy scales were applied. Univariate descriptive measures were estimated for both scales. Full psychometric analysis was performed, including Confirmatory Factor Analysis, reliability, measurement invariance and Structural Equation Modelling to determine the predictive capacity of resilience on empathy and cut‐off points for both attributes.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>The theoretical model was supported in both scales. Invariance was observed between groups (sex). Resilience was found to have predictive capacity for empathy. Ecological resilience positively predicted all three dimensions of empathy; likewise, engineering resilience negatively predicted the ‘compassionate care’ and ‘walking in the patient's shoes’ dimensions and adaptive resilience negatively predicted all three dimensions of empathy.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Resilience has predictive capacity for empathy.</jats:p></jats:sec>
Cite this document
Díaz‐Narváez, V. P., Gamarra‐Moncayo, J., Fortich‐Mesa, N., Salgado, J. D. S., Alonso Palacio, L. M., Cruz‐Rocha, E. R. D. L., Tirado Amador, L., Coronado, A. M. E., Navarro, W. S., Epuyao González, L., Espinoza Retamal, M., Jaramillo Cavieres, P., Pontón, Y. D., Díaz‐Reissner, C., Vásquez, M. J. G., Sierra, L. A. V., Ceric‐Garrido, F., & Huerta‐González, S. (2025). Resilience as a predictor of empathy in dental students in latin america: A multicentre study. European Journal of Dental Education, eje.70016. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.70016
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