Relationship between stress and alexithymia, emotional processing and negative/positive affect in medical staff working amid the COVID-19 pandemic

© American Federation for Medical Research 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ..

The psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a lasting effect on emotional well-being of healthcare workers. Medical personnel working at the time of the pandemic may experience elevated occupational stress due to the uncontrollability of the virus, high perceived risk of infection, poor understanding of the novel virus transmission routes and unavailability of effective antiviral agents. This study used path analysis to analyze the relationship between stress and alexithymia, emotional processing and negative/positive affect in healthcare workers. The sample included 167 nurses, 65 physicians and 53 paramedics. Sixty-two (21.75 %) respondents worked in COVID-19-designated hospitals. Respondents were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Processing Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The model showed excellent fit indices (χ2 (2)=2.642, p=0.267; CFI=0.999, RMSEA=0.034, SRMR=0.015). Multiple group path analysis demonstrated physicians differed from nurses and paramedics at the model level (X2diff (7)=14.155, p<0.05 and X2diff (7)=18.642, p<0.01, respectively). The relationship between alexithymia and emotional processing was stronger in nurses than in physicians (difference in beta=0.27; p<0.05). Individual path χ2 tests also revealed significantly different paths across these groups. The results of the study may be used to develop evidence-based intervention programs promoting healthcare workers' mental health and well-being.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:70

Enthalten in:

Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research - 70(2022), 2 vom: 23. Feb., Seite 428-435

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Warchoł-Biedermann, Katarzyna [VerfasserIn]
Bugajski, Paweł [VerfasserIn]
Budzicz, Łukasz [VerfasserIn]
Ziarko, Michał [VerfasserIn]
Jasielska, Aleksandra [VerfasserIn]
Samborski, Włodzimierz [VerfasserIn]
Daroszewski, Przemysław [VerfasserIn]
Greberski, Krzysztof [VerfasserIn]
Bączyk, Grażyna [VerfasserIn]
Karoń, Jacek [VerfasserIn]
Mojs, Ewa [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

COVID-19
Journal Article
Psychological
Stress

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 03.02.2022

Date Revised 29.08.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1136/jim-2021-001942

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM333525310