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Resilience and Empathy in Dental Students: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study in Two Latin American Universities
María Jorgelina Ulloque1, Laura Sánchez Jiménez2, Sara Huerta-González3
1Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Objective:
To examine the association between resilience and empathy in dental students and to explore how specific resilience dimensions relate to different components of empathy in two Latin American universities.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study included students from two countries: Argentina (n = 200) and Costa Rica (n = 222). The Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Health Professions Students and the Trait Resilience Scale were administered. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling were conducted to examine the associations between resilience and empathy.
Results:
Resilience dimensions showed context-dependent associations with specific empathy dimensions, although not all relationships reached statistical significance. In Costa Rica, engineering resilience showed statistically significant associations with perspective-taking (β = -0.23, p < 0.05) and walking in the patient's shoes (β = 0.19, p < 0.05), while ecological resilience was significantly associated with perspective-taking (β = 0.26, p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Resilience showed context-dependent associations with empathy dimensions. These findings underscore the relevance of resilience and empathy as socio-emotional constructs within dental education.
