Comparing two types of perspective taking as strategies for detecting distress amongst parents of children with cancer: A randomised trial

OBJECTIVE: To compare two perspective taking strategies on (i) clinicians’ ability to accurately identify negative thoughts and feelings of parents of children with cancer, and (ii) clinician distress. METHODS: Sixty-three hematology-oncology professionals and nursing students watched a video featuring parents of children with cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the imagine-self group, they were instructed to imagine the feelings and life consequences which they would experience if they were in the parents’ position. In the imagine-other group, they were instructed to imagine the feelings and life consequences experienced by the parents. Parent-clinician agreement on thoughts/feelings was evaluated (standard stimulus paradigm). Clinician distress was also assessed. RESULTS: The intervention was effective in manipulating perspective type. The groups did not significantly differ on parent-clinician agreement. Concentrating on personal feelings (imagine-self strategy) did predict lower agreement when controlling for trait empathy. Clinician distress was higher in the imagine-self group. CONCLUSION: Although the link between perspective type and detection of distress remains unclear, the results suggest that clinicians who highly focus on their own feelings tend to be less accurate on parental distress and experience more distress themselves. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This research could potentially improve communication training and burnout prevention.