{"title":"Empathy and Mental Health of Preschool Teachers: A Latent Profile Analysis.","authors":"Rong Jin, Xiangyu Li, Heqing Huang","doi":"10.2147/PRBM.S487754","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This research, grounded in the self-other oriented empathy theoretical framework, aimed to explore the classification of empathy and its relationship with mental health among preschool teachers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 4345 preschool teachers participated in the study. Mental health was assessed using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), and empathy was measured with the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C). Data were collected through a comprehensive preschool education service platform. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to identify subgroups of preschool teachers by self- and other empathy pattern types. Descriptive statistics, bivariate cross-tabulations, and multinomial logistic regression were used to characterize each profile while quantifying associations with mental health.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A four-profile model was identified as the best fit in this latent profile analysis: the largest profile of preschool teachers was characterized by moderate self- and other-oriented empathy (46.5%), a second profile was characterized by high self- and other-oriented empathy (25.2%), a third profile was characterized by high other-oriented and low self-oriented empathy (20.8%), and the smallest profile was characterized by both low self- and other-oriented empathy (7.5%). Significant differences in mental health were observed between the latent profile. The high empathy profile exhibited the highest level of mental health risk, while the other-oriented groups showed the lowest level.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>There are four latent profiles of empathy in preschool teachers, and the profiles of empathy are related to mental health.</p>","PeriodicalId":20954,"journal":{"name":"Psychology Research and Behavior Management","volume":"18 ","pages":"255-269"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11806681/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychology Research and Behavior Management","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S487754","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: This research, grounded in the self-other oriented empathy theoretical framework, aimed to explore the classification of empathy and its relationship with mental health among preschool teachers.
Methods: A total of 4345 preschool teachers participated in the study. Mental health was assessed using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), and empathy was measured with the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C). Data were collected through a comprehensive preschool education service platform. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to identify subgroups of preschool teachers by self- and other empathy pattern types. Descriptive statistics, bivariate cross-tabulations, and multinomial logistic regression were used to characterize each profile while quantifying associations with mental health.
Results: A four-profile model was identified as the best fit in this latent profile analysis: the largest profile of preschool teachers was characterized by moderate self- and other-oriented empathy (46.5%), a second profile was characterized by high self- and other-oriented empathy (25.2%), a third profile was characterized by high other-oriented and low self-oriented empathy (20.8%), and the smallest profile was characterized by both low self- and other-oriented empathy (7.5%). Significant differences in mental health were observed between the latent profile. The high empathy profile exhibited the highest level of mental health risk, while the other-oriented groups showed the lowest level.
Conclusion: There are four latent profiles of empathy in preschool teachers, and the profiles of empathy are related to mental health.
期刊介绍:
Psychology Research and Behavior Management is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on the science of psychology and its application in behavior management to develop improved outcomes in the clinical, educational, sports and business arenas. Specific topics covered in the journal include: -Neuroscience, memory and decision making -Behavior modification and management -Clinical applications -Business and sports performance management -Social and developmental studies -Animal studies The journal welcomes submitted papers covering original research, clinical studies, surveys, reviews and evaluations, guidelines, expert opinion and commentary, case reports and extended reports.