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IntroductionThis study explores whether high alexithymia values correlate with low levels of empathy, while also trying to identify potential connections with social media addiction.MethodsWe hypothesized that alexithymia mediates the relationship between social media addiction and empathy levels in a sample of undergraduate students. The study population consisted of 649 medical students in the 4th/5th/6th University year, recruited between March and May 2021. For this assessment, we employed three psychometric instruments: the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), the Social Media Addiction Scale-Student Form (SMAS-SF), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). A pathway analysis investigated alexithymia as a mediator between social media addiction and the degree of empathy in medical undergraduates. Sobel’s test and the Baron and Kenny approach were used for testing mediation.ResultsThe TEQ total mean score was 48.76 ± 5.65, while the TAS-20 total mean score was 47.71 ± 11.49. Further analysis of the TAS-20 scale scores showed that 21.42% of students had possible alexithymia, while 14.02% had clear alexithymia. The SMAS-SF total mean score was 73.20 ± 14.59. None of the students reported levels consistent with major social media addiction. The mediated effect of the TAS-20 is about 1.3 times larger than the direct effect of the SMAS-SF on TEQ.DiscussionWe found a significant negative correlation between empathy and alexithymia in medical students. Alexithymia was a mediator between social media addiction and empathy. Therefore, we recommend further efforts to identify potential levels of alexithymia in medical students, in order to successfully develop tailored interventions aimed at increasing their emotional awareness.

IntroductionLifestyle factors, including inadequate eating patterns, emerge as a critical determinant of chronic disease. Apart from caring for patients, nurses should also take an active role in monitoring and managing their own health. Understanding the intricate relationship between nurses’ eating behavior and managing their own health is crucial for fostering a holistic approach to healthcare, therefore our study aimed to evaluate eating behavior and demographic factors influencing chronic disease prevalence in a sample of community nurses from Romania.MethodsBetween October–November 2023, 1920 community nurses were invited to answer an online survey, using an advertisement in their professional network. Of them, 788 responded. In the survey, which included a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire with 53 food items, the Intuitive Eating Survey 2 (IES-2), and demographic items were used.ResultsA multivariate model was built for the prediction of the association between eating behavior and other factors associated with chronic diseases. The majority of participants were females (95.1%), with the largest age group falling between 40 and 49.9 years (48.2%). Regarding the EFSA criteria for adequate carbohydrate and fat intake, 20.2% of the group have a high intake of carbohydrates, respectively, 43.4% of the group have a high intake of fat. Analysis of chronic diseases indicated that 24.9% of individuals reported at least one diagnosis by a physician. The presence of chronic disease was associated with a low level of perceived health status, with an OR = 3.388, 95%CI (1.684–6.814), compared to those reporting excellent or very good perceived health status. High stress had an OR = 1.483, 95%CI (1.033–2.129). BMI had an OR = 1.069, 95%CI (1.032–1.108), while low carbohydrate diet score had an OR = 0.956, 95%CI (0.920–0.992). Gender and IES-2 did not significantly contribute to the model, but their effect was controlled.DiscussionBy unraveling the intricate interplay between nutrition, lifestyle, and health outcomes in this healthcare cohort, our findings contribute valuable insights for the development of targeted interventions and support programs tailored to enhance the well-being of community nurses and, by extension, the patients they support.

Abstract Background High empathy levels in health professionals represent an important factor in patient satisfaction and compliance, reducing patient anxiety and pain, enhancing diagnostic and clinical results and strengthening patient empowerment. Our purpose was to determine empathy level and to identify which of the socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological factors were able to predict highest empathy levels in a Romanian sample of community nurses. Methods Community nurses were invited in January-February 2023 to provide an answer to an online survey, using an advertisement in a professional network. 1580 participants voluntarily agreed to take part in this study, with a response rate of 85.8%. The survey included the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and socio-economic status items. A multivariate model for the prediction of belonging to the highest quartile of empathy as opposed to lowest quartile was constructed using SES and psychological variables as factors. Results The mean (SD) empathy level was 49.1 (6.7), with 74.7% of participants over the threshold of high empathy level. In the multivariate analysis, predictors of belonging to the highest quartile of TEQ, as opposed to the lowest quartile were: low self-perceived stress level (OR = 2.098, 95%CI 1.362–3.231), higher experience as a community nurse (OR = 1.561, 95%CI 1.120–2.175) and higher levels of the theory of mind (OR = 1.158, 95%CI 1.118–1.199), when controlling for gender, age, relationship status, presence of children in families, education, and income. Conclusions Training programs targeting to increase emotional competences, reduce levels of stress and encourage personnel retention have the potential to increase the quality of community nursing in Romania.

Academic stress and transitioning to young adulthood can lead medical students to develop inadequate eating habits, affecting both their physical and mental well-being and potentially compromising their ability to offer effective preventive counseling to future patients. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the levels of mindful eating and nutrition knowledge in Romanian medical students and their associations with various sociodemographic variables. Additionally, we explore the relationship between mindful eating and nutrition knowledge while accounting for sociodemographic factors and examine the impact of these factors on excess weight. Significant predictors of excess weight include high weight gain in the past year (OR = 15.8), the mindful eating questionnaire (MEQ) score (OR = 0.131), male gender (OR = 2.5), and being in the clinical years of medical school (OR = 2.2). While nutrition knowledge levels do not directly impact weight status, they share a 4% common variance with mindfulness in multivariate analysis. Notably, high weight gain is independent of the levels of mindful eating, but univariate testing links it to disinhibition and emotional response, components of mindfulness. Mindful eating stands out as independently associated with both nutrition knowledge and excess weight among medical students. Thus, interventions to address obesity should consider incorporating mindfulness training to enhance food intake awareness and improve weight management outcomes in Romanian medical students.

Negative emotions and chronic stress trigger abnormal compensatory behaviors known as emotional eating (EE). EE is a well-known mediator for increased body mass index and weight gain. Our aim was to analyze the factor structure and validity and reliability of the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) in a sample of 200 Romanian adults with excess weight. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess the construct validity. The mindful eating questionnaire (MEQ) was used to test concurrent validity. Cronbach’s alpha and Spearman correlations were used to analyze internal and external reliability. The socio-demographic characteristics were used as factors for convergent validity. PCA revealed the existence of three major factors, disinhibition, type of food, and guilt, which accounted for 64.9% of the variance. Concurrent validity showed medium to large associations with MEQ (r = 0.650; p < 0.001) and a large association with the emotional subscale of MEQ (r = 0.732; p < 0.001). Reliability was adequate with Cronbach’s alfa = 0.841 and ICC = 0.775. In a multivariate model, the highest contribution to the EE score was the age (beta = −0.327), followed by feminine gender (beta = 0.321), high levels of perceived stress (beta = 0.215), BMI (beta = 0.184) and lower perceived health status (beta = 0.184). The Romanian version of the EEQ is a reliable and valid tool for measuring emotional eating in adults with excess weight.

In depth understanding of the dietary patterns of individuals with obesity is needed in practice and research, in order to support dietitians and physicians in the design and implementation of nutritional management. We aimed to analyze the consistency of energy, macro-, and micronutrient reported intakes in four non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls from 388 adults with obesity using information collected in the NutriGen Study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02837367). Significant decreases were identified for reported energy and several, macro- and micronutrient intakes, between the first and subsequent 24-h recalls. Significant differences of reported intakes were identified in sensitivity analyses, suggesting that the first recall (also the only one performed on site, face-to-face) might be a point of bias. A comparison of the differences in intakes between weekend and weekday, after adjustment for false discovery rate were non-statistically significant either in male, females, or in total. To overcome this potential bias, studies should be carefully conducted, starting from the design phase, through to the analysis and interpretation phases of the study. Prior to averaging specific intakes across all sessions of reporting, a preliminary analysis must be conducted to identify if a certain time point had significant differences from all other time points and overview potential sources of bias: reporting bias, training bias, or behavioral changes could be responsible for such differences.