To be or not to be empathic: the combined role of empathic concern and perspective taking in understanding burnout in general practice.
BACKGROUND
General practice is stressful and burnout is common among family physicians. A growing body of evidence suggests that the way physicians relate to their patients could be linked to burnout. The goal of this study was to examine how patterns of empathy explained physicians' burnout.


METHODS
We surveyed 294 French general practitioners (response rate 39%), measured burnout, empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) using self-reported questionnaires, and modeled burnout levels and frequencies with EC, PT and their interaction in linear and logistic regression analyses.


RESULTS
Multivariate linear models for burnout prediction were associated with lower PT (β = -0.21, p < 0.001) and lower EC (β = -0.17, p < 0.05). Interestingly, the interaction (EC x PT) also predicted burnout levels (β = 0.11, p < 0.05). The investigation of interactions revealed that high scores on PT predicted lower levels of burnout independent from EC (odd ratios (OR) 0.37; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.21-0.65 p < 0.001), and high scores on both EC and PT were protective against burnout: OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.15-0.63, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Deficits in PT alone might be a risk factor for burnout, whereas higher PT and EC might be protective. Educators should take into account how the various components of empathy are potentially associated with emotional outcomes in physicians.
Martin
M
Lamothe
Emilie
E
Boujut
Franck
F
Zenasni
Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Succursale Centre- ville, PO Box 6128, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada. serge.sultan@umontreal.ca.
Serge
S
Sultan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires