Compassion Dynamics in Medical Students: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

This study examined a micro-EMA approach for measuring the temporal dynamics of compassion in medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical students (N = 47) completed demographic information and self-report questionnaires assessing empathy and compassion for self and others. Participants then completed six bursts of micro-EMA smartphone-delivered surveys. Each burst was 14 days, with 28 days between bursts. During each burst, participants r eceived four daily micro-EMA surveys assessing compassion, stress, positive affect, and negative affect. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to examine micro-EMA responses. The overall micro-EMA response rate was 83.75%. On average, daily compassion did not significantly change across the academic year. However, there was significant within-person variability in medical students’ compassion trajectories over the training year (b = 0.027,p <  .01). At concurrent timepoints, micro-EMA assessed compassion was associated with greater happiness (b = 0.142,p <  .001) and lower stress (b = −0.052,p <  .05) but was not associated with sadness. In lagged analyses, higher micro-EMA assessed compassion predicted higher next day happiness (b = 0.116,p <  .01) and vice versa (b = 0.185,p <  .01). Results suggest it is feasible to use micro-EMA to assess daily levels of compassion among medical students. Additionally, there is wide variability in day-to-day fluctuations...
Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research