Analysis of the empathic concern subscale of the emotional response questionnaire in a study evaluating the impact of a 3D cultural simulation

Background: Empathic concern has been found to decline in health professional students. Few effective educational programs and a lack of validated scales are reported. Previous analysis of the Empathic Concern scale of the Emotional Response Questionnaire has reported both one and two latent constructs. Aim: To evaluate the impact of simulation on nursing students' empathic concern and test the psychometric properties of the Empathic Concern scale. Methods: The study used a one group pre-test post-test design with a convenience sample of 460 nursing students. Empathic concern was measured pre-post simulation with the Empathic Concern scale. Factor Analysis was undertaken to investigate the structure of the scale. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in Empathic Concern scores between pre-simulation 5.57 (SD = 1.04) and post-simulation 6.10 (SD = 0.95). Factor analysis of the Empathic Concern scale identified one latent dimension. Conclusion: Immersive simulation may promote empathic concern. The Empathic Concern scale measured a single latent construct in this cohort.