The Roles of Empathy, Attachment Style, and Burnout in Pharmacy Students’ Academic Satisfaction

Objective. To investigate empathy, burnout, and attachment style, and to explore the relationships between these variables and academic satisfaction in a group of pharmacy students.Methods. This cross-sectional study included 410 pharmacy students. Students enrolled in the first 2 years (Group 1, n=200) and the last 2 years (Group 2, n=210) of the program were invited to participate. The data collected comprised sociodemographic characteristics; the Portuguese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to assess empathy levels; the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to measure Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment; the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) to evaluate students’ attachment style; and an original academic satisfaction scale.Results. Although both groups revealed similar levels of empathy, female students showed higher scores in the IRI subscales and in Emotional Exhaustion. Students included in Group 2 presented significantly higher Depersonalization scores. Over...