Measures of empathy and compassion: A scoping review.

Evidence to date indicates that compassion and empathy are health-enhancing qualities. Research points to interventions and practices involving compassion and empathy being beneficial, as well as being salient outcomes of contemplative practices such as mindfulness. Advancing the science of compassion and empathy requires that we select measures best suited to evaluating effectiveness of training and answering research questions. The objective of this scoping review was to 1) determine what instruments are currently available for measuring empathy and compassion, 2) assess how and to what extent they have been validated, and 3) provide an online tool to assist researchers and program evaluators in selecting appropriate measures for their settings and populations. A scoping review and broad evidence map were employed to systematically search and present an overview of the large and diverse body of literature pertaining to measuring compassion and empathy. A search string yielded 19,446 articles, and screening resulted in 559 measure development or validation articles reporting on 503 measures focusing on or containing subscales designed to measure empathy and/or compassion. For each measure, we identified the type of measure, construct being measured, in what context or population it was validated, response set, sample items, and how many different types of psychometrics had been assessed for that measure. We provide tables summarizing these data, as well as an open-source online interactive data visualization allowing viewers to search for measures of empathy and compassion, review their basic qualities, and access original citations containing more detail. Finally, we provide a rubric to help readers determine which measure(s) might best fit their context.

Mental health professionals' perspectives on the relevance of religion and spirituality to mental health care.

BACKGROUND: A large body of evidence indicates that spiritual and religious backgrounds, beliefs, and practices (SRBBPs) are related to better psychological health. Spirituality and religion (R/S) are also important aspects of multicultural diversity. There is evidence that clients would like to talk about their spirituality, and that including it in assessment and treatment planning can be beneficial. However, the extent to which practicing mental health professionals view SRBBPs as relevant to mental health and clinical practice is unclear. METHODS: A survey examining several aspects of addressing SRBBPs in clinical practice was distributed to 894 professionals across mental health disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, social work, marriage family therapy, licensed professional counselors, certified chemical dependency counselors, and psychiatric mental health nurses. RESULTS: 89% of mental health professionals agreed that clinicians should receive training in R/S competencies. There were no differences between mental health disciplines in ratings of importance of such training. Younger individuals and those who identify as more spiritual were more likely to consider R/S training as important. Although 47.1% of professionals had not received much R/S training, many perceived themselves to be highly competent in R/S clinical integration practices (57.8% considered themselves able to display them very much or completely). In addition, respondents with more R/S training evaluated themselves as more proficient in R/S clinical integration. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of respondents reported encountering few to no barriers to engaging in R/S competent mental health care. CONCLUSIONS: There is a growing consensus among mental health care professionals that mental health professionals should be trained in R/S competencies. Strong agreement exists that basic R/S competencies include respect, empathy, examination of bias, and routine assessment of R/S in mental health care. Four in five of those surveyed agree that more active competencies, such as identifying and addressing religious and spiritual struggles and problems and helping clients explore and access R/S strengths and resources should be included, whereas one in five report less comfort with these competencies.