The Jefferson Scale of Empathy: a nationwide study of measurement properties, underlying components, latent variable structure, and national norms in medical students

Abstract

The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) is a broadly used instrument developed to measure empathy in the context of health professions education and patient care. Evidence in support of psychometrics of the JSE has been reported in health professions students and practitioners with the exception of osteopathic medical students. This study was designed to examine measurement properties, underlying components, and latent variable structure of the JSE in a nationwide sample of first-year matriculants at U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine, and to develop a national norm table for the assessment of JSE scores. A web-based survey was administered at the beginning of the 2017–2018 academic year which included the JSE, a scale to detect “good impression” responses, and demographic/background information. Usable surveys were received from 6009 students enrolled in 41 college campuses (median response rate = 92%). The JSE mean score and standard deviation for the sample were 116.54 and 10.85, respectively. Item-total score correlations were positive and statistically significant (p < 0.01), and Cronbach α = 0.82. Significant gender differences were observed on the JSE scores in favor of women. Also, significant differences were found on item scores between top and bottom third scorers on the JSE. Three factors of Perspective Taking, Compassionate Care, and Walking in Patient’s Shoes emerged in an exploratory factor analysis by using half of the sample. Results of confirmatory factor analysis with another half of the sample confirmed the 3-factor model. We also developed a national norm table which is the first to assess students’ JSE scores against national data.

Empathy in Medicine National Norms for the Jefferson Scale of Empathy: A Nationwide Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE)

“…33,38 Conversely, JSE scores were negatively correlated with personal qualities that are detrimental to relationship building, including aggression-hostility, 26,39 indicators of burnout such as depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, 36,40,41 and neuroticism. 42 In a 2018 study 43 (using POMEE data), we found strong evidence in support of the measurement properties, underlying components, and latent variable structure of the JSE in a nationwide sample of first-year matriculants to osteopathic medical schools.…”

Empathy as related to gender, age, race and ethnicity, academic background and career interest: A nationwide study of osteopathic medical students in the United States

“…Internal consistency reliability, determined by Cronbach's coefficient alpha, is mostly reported in the 0.70s and 0.80s, 6 and stability of scores over time by test–retest reliability (in the 0.60s) has been reported in physicians, 20 allopathic medical students 13 and osteopathic medical students 10 …”

“…Empirical research shows that medical students’ empathy is positively associated with how faculty members rate their clinical competence, 7 and physician's empathy has been found to predict positive clinical outcomes 8,9 . Significant correlations have also been reported between medical student's empathy and personality attributes conducive to relationship building (for a review see Hojat et al 10 and Hojat et al 11 ). Conversely, negative correlations have been found between empathy in medical and other health professions students and personal qualities detrimental to interpersonal relationships .…”

“…Conversely, negative correlations have been found between empathy in medical and other health professions students and personal qualities detrimental to interpersonal relationships . (for a review see Hojat et al 10 and Hojat et al 11 ). These findings suggest that empathic orientation can contribute both to the quality of interpersonal relations in general and to the outcomes of medical education and patient care in particular.…”

“…Although a number of studies have examined associations between empathy and gender amongst medical students, 10‐15 few have researched empathy and career interest in medical students, and empirical research on medical students’ empathy in relation to age, race and ethnicity, and academic background is scarce. Almost all published studies on the aforementioned issues involve single‐institution research using small and non‐probabilistic accessible sampling designs that limit the internal and external validity of the findings.…”