Background Infectious disease outbreaks are uniquely stressful for non-medical essential employees. Promoting the health of these workers is vital to minimize their distress and to ensure they are able to continue in their professional capacity. One way to support worker health is for supervisors to engage in behaviors that promote their employees’ behavioral health, wellbeing, and attitudes towards preventive medicine practices. Methods The present study examined if health-promoting leadership contributes to these outcomes in employees operating in an epidemic. Active-duty soldiers (N = 173) deployed to provide non-medical support in Liberia during the 2014 Ebola crisis completed surveys assessing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, sleep problems, burnout, morale and attitudes, and rating their leaders on health-promoting behaviors. An exploratory factor analysis identified two leadership factors, one focused on psychological health and one on preventive medicine behaviors. Results Using mixed effects logistic regression, after adjusting for general leadership and soldier rank, health-promoting leadership focused on psychological health was associated with decreased odds of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and burnout, and increased odds of high morale and avoiding unnecessary risk. Health-promoting leadership behaviors focused on preventive medicine were associated with decreased odds of depression and anxiety, and increased odds of high morale, understanding the level of risk from disease, positive attitudes towards the deployment and preventive practices, and avoiding unnecessary risk. Conclusions Findings suggest health-promoting leadership behaviors could be valuable for employees responding to infectious disease outbreaks. Future research should examine whether training leaders in these skills can improve outcomes for non-medical employees in both military and civilian settings.
BackgroundInfectious disease outbreaks are uniquely stressful for non-medical essential employees. Promoting the health of these workers is vital to minimize their distress and to ensure they are able to continue in their professional capacity. One way to support worker health is for supervisors to engage in behaviors that promote their employees' behavioral health, wellbeing, and attitudes towards preventive medicine practices. MethodsThe present study examined if health-promoting leadership contributes to these outcomes in employees operating in an epidemic. Active-duty soldiers (N = 173) deployed to provide non-medical support in Liberia during the 2014 Ebola crisis completed surveys assessing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, sleep problems, burnout, morale and attitudes, and rating their leaders on healthpromoting behaviors. An exploratory factor analysis identi ed two leadership factors, one focused on psychological health and one on preventive medicine behaviors. ResultsUsing mixed effects logistic regression, after adjusting for general leadership and soldier rank, healthpromoting leadership focused on psychological health was associated with decreased odds of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and burnout, and increased odds of high morale and avoiding unnecessary risk.Health-promoting leadership behaviors focused on preventive medicine were associated with decreased odds of depression and anxiety, and increased odds of high morale, understanding the level of risk from disease, positive attitudes towards the deployment and preventive practices, and avoiding unnecessary risk. ConclusionsFindings suggest health-promoting leadership behaviors could be valuable for employees responding to infectious disease outbreaks. Future research should examine whether training leaders in these skills can improve outcomes for non-medical employees in both military and civilian settings.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.