Empatía y funcionamiento familiar en estudiantes de la carrera de Medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca, en el año 2023

Abstract

Empathy is defined as an individual's capacity to understand the other's people situation, playing a crucial role in the doctor-patient relationship. On the other hand, family functioning encompasses the set of characteristics that promote positive adaptation and the well-being of each of its members. It is recognized that the family represents the primary agent of socialization, as the duration and intensity of its relationships influence the empathy's development and generation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the levels of empathy and categories of family functioning in medical students at the University of Cuenca in the year 2023. For this purpose, a non-experimental, quantitative, and cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, including 505 medical students. The level of empathy and family functioning were assessed using the Jefferson Empathy Scale and the FACES20 Family Functioning Scale. A descriptive analysis of the study variables was conducted and frequency tables for empathy and family functioning were presented. The results indicate that 70,5% of the sample consisted of female individuals, while 29,5% were male individuals. Additionally, 55,4% of the respondents showed an outstanding level of empathy, 41,6% had a enmeshed family, and finally, 34,7% exhibited a chaotic family.