TY - JOUR
T1 - Differences in genetic counseling student responses to intense patient affect
T2 - A study of students in North American programs
AU - Keppers, Rachel
AU - McCarthy Veach, Patricia
AU - Schema, Lynn
AU - LeRoy, Bonnie S
AU - MacFarlane, Ian M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Society of Genetic Counselors
PY - 2021/9/12
Y1 - 2021/9/12
N2 - Research indicates genetic counseling patients often experience intense emotions. No studies, however, have investigated how genetic counseling students respond to patient affect. This survey study investigated student responses to patient emotions and select factors affecting their responses. One-hundred fifty-one genetic counseling students in North American programs wrote a response to each of three hypothetical prenatal scenarios, identical except for the patient affect expressed (anger, fear, or sadness). They also completed measures of empathy tendency and tolerance of negative affect and demographic questions. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), used to analyze the effects of major study variables on the types of responses given by participants, was significant. Follow-up univariate ANCOVAs indicated small to moderate effect sizes for student clinical experience, race/ethnicity, and relationship status within and across scenarios. For example, as number of patients counseled increased, participants used more feeling reflections and fewer self-involving statements. There were no significant differences in responses due to empathy tendency or affect tolerance. Most common responses were information provision and feeling reflections for the Anger scenario, information provision for the Fear scenario, and influencing responses for the Sadness scenario. Responses to each scenario typically involved multiple thoughts (range: 1–14; means ranged from 3.25 in the Sadness scenario to 3.62 in the Fear scenario). Most students (82%) reported the Anger scenario was the most difficult. Thematic analysis of reasons a scenario was difficult yielded four themes: Discomfort with situation/emotion, Positive countertransference, Uncertain how to respond, and Negative countertransference. Findings that clinical experience affects how participants responded to patient affect support the essential role of applied experience. Findings also support training and supervision to help genetic counseling students in North America learn ways to respond to strong patient emotions and recognize and manage countertransference.
AB - Research indicates genetic counseling patients often experience intense emotions. No studies, however, have investigated how genetic counseling students respond to patient affect. This survey study investigated student responses to patient emotions and select factors affecting their responses. One-hundred fifty-one genetic counseling students in North American programs wrote a response to each of three hypothetical prenatal scenarios, identical except for the patient affect expressed (anger, fear, or sadness). They also completed measures of empathy tendency and tolerance of negative affect and demographic questions. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), used to analyze the effects of major study variables on the types of responses given by participants, was significant. Follow-up univariate ANCOVAs indicated small to moderate effect sizes for student clinical experience, race/ethnicity, and relationship status within and across scenarios. For example, as number of patients counseled increased, participants used more feeling reflections and fewer self-involving statements. There were no significant differences in responses due to empathy tendency or affect tolerance. Most common responses were information provision and feeling reflections for the Anger scenario, information provision for the Fear scenario, and influencing responses for the Sadness scenario. Responses to each scenario typically involved multiple thoughts (range: 1–14; means ranged from 3.25 in the Sadness scenario to 3.62 in the Fear scenario). Most students (82%) reported the Anger scenario was the most difficult. Thematic analysis of reasons a scenario was difficult yielded four themes: Discomfort with situation/emotion, Positive countertransference, Uncertain how to respond, and Negative countertransference. Findings that clinical experience affects how participants responded to patient affect support the essential role of applied experience. Findings also support training and supervision to help genetic counseling students in North America learn ways to respond to strong patient emotions and recognize and manage countertransference.
KW - anger
KW - fear
KW - genetic counseling
KW - professional development
KW - psychosocial
KW - sadness
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U2 - 10.1002/jgc4.1505
DO - 10.1002/jgc4.1505
M3 - Article
C2 - 34514687
AN - SCOPUS:85114749143
SN - 1059-7700
VL - 31
SP - 398
EP - 410
JO - Journal of Genetic Counseling
JF - Journal of Genetic Counseling
IS - 2
ER -