A Cross-Sectional Study of Empathy Among College Students in Health and Human Sciences Degree Programs

Empathy is an essential skill for health and human science professionals and students pursuing degrees in helping profession careers such as social work, counseling, nursing, and speech pathology. Empathy in providers is correlated with positive outcomes in medical and behavioral healthcare settings. To date, most studies on empathy in college students have focused on those in medical, nursing, and social work programs and have not examined prior experiences in the field. The purpose of this study was to assess and explore differences in levels of empathy among students (n=530) enrolled in a variety of health and human sciences degree programs at a regional southern university. Using a cross-sectional design, empathy was measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), which assesses four dimensions. Results indicated higher empathy scores among female students, certain degree programs, and in upper level and graduate students. Students with practical experience that involved patient/client contact, whether at work or internships, scored higher on the Perspective Taking subscale and lower on the Personal Distress subscale. Implications for degree programs who train future health and human science professionals involve inclusion of field experiences and integration of education and training on empathy in coursework.