Communication skills training for emotional empathy

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26860350
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical sociology
• Research Institution: National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Fujimori Maiko 国立研究開発法人国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 精神保健研究所 自殺予防総合対策センター, 室長 (40450572)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): UCHITOMI Yosuke 国立がん研究センター, 中央病院, 支持療法開発センター長 (60243565)
• Research Collaborator: Yamada Yu 国際医療福祉大学病院, 心療内科
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: コミュニケーション / 共感 / 医学教育 / サイコオンコロジー / 心理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aims of this study are to assess the intra-personal processes of oncologists’ empathy during breaking bad news to patients with cancer and to examine the effect of improving emotional empathic response of oncologists by participating in a communication skills training (CST) program. As a result of assessing the electrodermal activity and pulse pressure wave of oncologists during standardized patients’ emotional expression in simulated consultations and the oncologists’ emotional and cognitive empathy by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the relationship between skin conductance level and the score of the personal distress factor was suggested. Furthermore, as a result of comparing oncologists’ emotional and cognitive empathy before and after CST participation, it was shown that their emotional and cognitive empathy improved after CST. This effect was suggested to be related to the years of clinical experience of oncologists.

Free Research Field

臨床心理学