IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i8p4033-d534339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Doctors’ Mindfulness, Empathy, and Communication Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Hao Chen

    (Graduate Institute of Business and Management, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Chao Liu

    (Graduate Institute of Business and Management, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan
    College of Aviation, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Xinyi Cao

    (Clinical Neurocognitive Research Center, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China)

  • Bo Hong

    (Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China)

  • Ding-Hau Huang

    (Institute of Creative Design and Management, National Taipei University of Business, Taoyuan 22058, Taiwan)

  • Chia-Yi Liu

    (Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei 10507, Taiwan)

  • Wen-Ko Chiou

    (Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei 10507, Taiwan
    Department of Industrial Design, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan)

Abstract

Background: In the context of increasing doctor–patient tensions in China, the objective of this study was to explore and examine the effects of loving-kindness meditation (LKM) on doctors’ mindfulness, empathy, and communication skills. Methods: A total of 106 doctors were recruited from a hospital in China, and randomly divided into an LKM training group (n = 53) and waiting control group (n = 53). The LKM training group received 8 weeks of LKM training intervention, whereas the control group received no intervention. Three major variables (mindfulness, empathy, and communication skills) were measured before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the LKM training intervention. Results: The empathy and communication skills of the LKM group were significantly improved compared with those of the control group, but the level of mindfulness did not significantly change. Conclusions: The results suggested that LKM may contribute to improving physicians’ empathy and communication skills. However, the mechanisms that underlie the effects of the LKM on mindfulness, empathy, and communication skills and other psychological constructs needs further elucidation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hao Chen & Chao Liu & Xinyi Cao & Bo Hong & Ding-Hau Huang & Chia-Yi Liu & Wen-Ko Chiou, 2021. "Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Doctors’ Mindfulness, Empathy, and Communication Skills," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4033-:d:534339
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4033/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4033/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bo, Shiyu & Chen, Joy & Song, Yan & Zhou, Sen, 2020. "Media attention and choice of major: Evidence from anti-doctor violence in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Antoine Lutz & Julie Brefczynski-Lewis & Tom Johnstone & Richard J Davidson, 2008. "Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(3), pages 1-10, March.
    3. Tian Gao & Bruce Gurd, 2018. "Problems and challenges in managing the new generation of doctors in Chinese hospitals," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 528-542, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hao Chen & Chao Liu & Fang Zhou & Xin-Yi Cao & Kan Wu & Yi-Lang Chen & Chia-Yih Liu & Ding-Hau Huang & Wen-Ko Chiou, 2022. "Focused-Attention Meditation Improves Flow, Communication Skills, and Safety Attitudes of Surgeons," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-15, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hooria Jazaieri & Geshe Jinpa & Kelly McGonigal & Erika Rosenberg & Joel Finkelstein & Emiliana Simon-Thomas & Margaret Cullen & James Doty & James Gross & Philippe Goldin, 2013. "Enhancing Compassion: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Compassion Cultivation Training Program," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1113-1126, August.
    2. Daniel Lim & Paul Condon & David DeSteno, 2015. "Mindfulness and Compassion: An Examination of Mechanism and Scalability," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8, February.
    3. Chirag Dagar & Ashish Pandey & Ajinkya Navare, 2022. "How Yoga-Based Practices Build Altruistic Behavior? Examining the Role of Subjective Vitality, Self-transcendence, and Psychological Capital," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 191-206, January.
    4. Lina Rådmark & Linda L Magnusson Hanson & Eva Bojner Horwitz & Walter Osika, 2017. "Prevalence of mind and body exercises (MBE) in relation to demographics, self-rated health, and purchases of prescribed psychotropic drugs and analgesics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, September.
    5. Ye, Xiaoyang & Zhai, Muxin & Feng, Li & Xie, A’na & Wang, Weimin & Wu, Hongbin, 2022. "Still want to be a doctor? Medical student dropout in the era of COVID-19," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 122-139.
    6. Malcolm Warner & Ying Zhu, 2018. "The challenges of managing ‘new generation’ employees in contemporary China: setting the scene," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 429-436, August.
    7. Lingpeng Meng & Xiang Yu & Chuanfeng Han & Pihui Liu, 2022. "Does Internet Use Aggravate Public Distrust of Doctors? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Faqin Lin & Rui Wang & Kuo Feng, 2024. "Regional favouritism in Chinese university admissions," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 209-236, January.
    9. Luo, Yiyang & Yang, Songtao, 2023. "Gender peer effects on students’ educational and occupational expectations," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Ying Zhu & Malcolm Warner, 2018. "Managing ‘new generation’ employees in China and beyond: summing-up," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 578-584, August.
    11. Raquel De la Fuente-Anuncibay & Ángela González-Barbadillo & Jerónimo González-Bernal & Esther Cubo & Juan P PizarroRuiz, 2019. "Mediating effect of mindfulness cognition on the development of empathy in a university context," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, April.
    12. Zoe Moula & Nicola Walshe & Elsa Lee, 2021. "Making Nature Explicit in Children’s Drawings of Wellbeing and Happy Spaces," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(4), pages 1653-1675, August.
    13. Ze Chen & Yuan Wang & Yanjun Guan & Michael Jie Guo & Rong Xu, 2023. "Long‐term effect of childhood pandemic experience on medical major choice: Evidence from the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1120-1147, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4033-:d:534339. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.