Mediating and Suppressing Effects of Coping Styles Between Resilience and Empathy for Pain in Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Yanling Huang,1,* Bing Li,1,* Suibin Feng,2,* Sifen Jiang,1 Kun Zeng1,3 1School of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Pediatric Urology Department, Dongguan Eighth People’s Hospital (Dongguan Children’s Hospital), Dongguan, People’s Republic of China; 3Science and Education Section, Dongguan Eighth People’s Hospital (Dongguan Children’s Hospital), Dongguan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Kun Zeng, School of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, No. 283, Jianghai Avenue, Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, 510310, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13790300213, Email [email protected]: This study aimed to investigate the current state of empathy for pain among clinical nurses, analyze the relationship between resilience and empathy for pain, and explore the mediating effects of coping styles.Methods: This was a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted among 1601 clinical nurses in Guangdong Province, China. The convenience sampling method was used to collect data from Sociodemographic information, the 14-Item Resilience Scale, the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Empathy for Pain Scale from June to September 2023. To analyze the relationship between resilience, coping styles, and empathy for pain among clinical nurses with descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation analysis, and mediation analysis.Results: The empathy for pain score among Chinese clinical nurses was 2.92 ± 0.79, with the empathy reactions dimension at 3.56 ± 0.74, and the body and mind discomfort reactions dimension at 2.70 ± 0.89. Clinical nurses’ resilience was positively related to the coping styles and the empathy reactions dimension, whereas negatively associated with the body and mind discomfort reactions dimension. Coping styles were negatively related to the empathy for pain and the body and mind discomfort reactions dimension, whereas positive with the empathy reactions dimension. Coping styles partially mediated between resilience and empathy reactions dimension (β=0.127, 95% CI: 0.070~0.183), accounting for 56.19% of the total effect. There were suppressing effects of coping styles between resilience and empathy for pain (β=− 0.157, 95% CI: − 0.189~-0.126), the body and mind discomfort reactions dimension (β=− 0.172, 95% CI: − 0.203~-0.142).Conclusion: The effects of resilience on clinical nurses’ empathy for pain were partially mediated and suppressed by coping styles. During clinical pain management, nursing administrators should focus on developing clinical nurses’ resilience and positive coping strategies to improve nurses’ physical and mental health, optimize pain management, and foster a heightened sense of empathy for pain.Keywords: resilience, coping styles, empathy for pain, mediating effect, suppressing effect