Recognition of Facial Expressions of Emotion and Depressive Symptoms among Caregivers with Different Levels of Empathy.

Objectives: To assess differences in the recognition of facial expressions of emotion among caregivers of older people with different levels of empathy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 158 caregivers of older adults who provided care in family residences or nursing homes. The caregivers were divided into three groups based on the score of the multidimensional Interpersonal Reactivity Index: "lower empathy", "intermediate empathy", and "higher empathy". Data collection involved the administration of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Emotion Recognition Test, and the Patient Health Questionnaire.

Results: No significant differences were found among the groups in terms of sociodemographic variables. Regarding clinical characteristics, the "higher empathy" group had more depressive symptoms than the other groups ( = .001). Moreover, the "higher empathy" group exhibited greater accuracy at recognizing the expression of sadness than the "lower empathy" group ( = .033). The recognition of sadness remained significant in the analysis of variance adjusted for depressive symptoms ( < .05).

Conclusions: Caregivers with higher levels of empathy showed greater accuracy at recognizing sadness emotion compared to caregivers with lower levels of empathy. Additionally, caregivers with greater empathy have more depressive symptoms.

Clinical Implications: The recognition of facial expressions of sadness may give caregivers a skill to infer possible needs in older care recipients. However, a higher level of empathy may exert a negative psychological impact on caregivers of older people, which could have repercussions regarding the quality of care provided.