Effects of Teachers' Knowledge and Empathy on Educational Intervention for ADHD: Focused on the Mediating Effect of Empathy

Wan-Ju Park; Sung-Dong Hwang

doi:10.12934/jkpmhn.2013.22.1.45

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Park and Hwang: Effects of Teachers' Knowledge and Empathy on Educational Intervention for ADHD: Focused on the Mediating Effect of Empathy

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2013; 22(1): 45-55.

Published online: 31 March 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2013.22.1.45

Effects of Teachers' Knowledge and Empathy on Educational Intervention for ADHD: Focused on the Mediating Effect of Empathy

Wan-Ju Park¹, Sung-Dong Hwang²

¹College of Nursing, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

²College of Social Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.

Corresponding author: Park, Wan-Ju. College of Nursing, Kyungpook National University, 101 Dongin 2-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu 700-422, Korea. Tel: +82-53-420-4977, Fax: +82-53-431-1020, wanjupark@knu.ac.kr

Received 22 January 2013 Revised 11 March 2013 Accepted 19 March 2013

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify how empathy mediates the relationship between teachers' knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and educational interventions.

Methods

A survey for structural equation modeling was conducted with 334 teachers from 61 schools in D and Y cities in Korea. Data were collected from April 2012 to July 2012 through self-report questionnaires using standardized instruments. The data were analyzed using SPSS Win 20 and AMOS 20, and Sobel tests were conducted to determine the significance of mediation and Bootstrapping tests to construct confidence intervals.

Results

Teachers' empathy provided complete mediation between teachers' knowledge and educational interventions in classrooms. Results showed that empathy contributes positively to educational interventions in ADHD by increasing understanding of children with ADHD and the situation.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study, teachers need to enhance their empathy towards students with ADHD to increase the effectiveness of their educational interventions for ADHD. These results suggest the importance of focusing on increasing teachers' empathy in the classroom in order to provider better education interventions for children with ADHD.

Keywords: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Knowledge, Empathy, Education

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

The hypothetical model.

Figure 2

Path diagram for the total and indirect effects (unstandardized coefficients).

Table 1

Differences of Variables according to General Characteristics (N=334)

^*p<.05; ^**p<.01.

Table 2

Correlations among Study Variables (N=334)

X=Knowledge: x1=general knowledge, x2=knowledge of symptoms/diagnosis, x3=knowledge of treatment; Y=Empathy: y1=empathy of cognitive factors, y2=empathy of emotional factors, y3=empathy of disposition for teacher, y4=empathy of basic attitude as a helper; Z=Intervention: z1= classroom intervention, z2=instructional intervention.

^*p<.05; ^**p<.01.

Table 3

Unstandardized Regression Weights and Effects of Predictor Variables in the Model

SE=standard error; CR=critical ratio; SMC=squared multiple correlation.

^*p<.05; ^**p<.01.

Table 4

Model Fitness Index for the Default Model (N=334)

CFI=comparative fit index; TLI=Tucker-Lewis index; RMSEA=root means square error of approximation.

Notes

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (KRF-2011-0022764) and supported by Kyungpook National University Research Fund, 2012.

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