Assessment of Acceptability and Initial Effectiveness of a Unified Protocol Prevention Program to Train Emotional Regulation Skills in Female Nursing Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Healthcare professionals, especially women, have shown increases in anxious-depressive symptoms as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a Unified Protocol (UP) prevention program to provide emotional regulation skills to cope with stressful situations. The sample consisted of 27 nursing professionals (100% women; mean age: 45.67; SD = 7.71) working in a Spanish public hospital during COVID-19, who were randomized to an immediate treatment group (ITG, n = 13) or to a delayed treatment group (DTG, n = 14, which served as the waiting list control group and received the program 5 weeks after the ITG had received it). The program consisted of five-weekly, two-hour, UP-based group sessions. Variables related to emotional symptomatology, emotional regulation, personality, burnout, and perceived quality of life were evaluated at the following time points: pre- and post-intervention and at 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. Statistically significant between-group differences showed lower emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment in favor of the ITG after the intervention. Regarding the effect over time for all participants who received the UP (n = 27), statistically significant reductions were observed in neuroticism, personal accomplishment, and subjective distress caused by traumatic events (−0.23 ≤ d ≤ −0.73). A statistically significant interaction “Time*Condition” was found in anxiety, with increases in the DTG. Participants showed high satisfaction with the UP. These findings show good acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of the UP to reduce the emotional impact of the pandemic in female nursing workers.

Impact of and mitigation measures for burnout in frontline healthcare workers during disasters: A mixed‐method systematic review

“…Fourteen studies focused on different burnout interventions (Akugue, 2022; Azizoddin et al, 2021; Blake et al, 2020; Crippa et al, 2021; Cunningham et al, 2017; Dincer & Inangil, 2021; Ferreres‐Galán et al, 2022; Giordano et al, 2022; Horn et al, 2019; Hsieh et al, 2022; Miyoshi et al, 2022; Sawyer et al, 2022; Sijbrandij et al, 2020; Sis Çelik & Kılınç, 2022). Of these studies, 13 assessed the effectiveness of an intervention, and one reported the development and usability of an intervention (Blake et al, 2020).…”

Psychological interventions for healthcare professionals during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A systematic review

“…One of them used ordinary mail to send the materials (Procaccia et al., 2021). The other two administrated their interventions in person (Ferreres et al., 2022; Yildirim & Yildiz, 2022). The length of interventions ranged between 1 day and 8 weeks, only 3 studies reported follow‐up data (Amsalem et al., 2022; Ferreres et al., 2022; Fiol‐DeRoque et al., 2021).…”

“…Finally, Ferreres et al. (2022) proved the effectiveness of a preventive programme to train emotional skills in healthcare professionals. In the pre‐ and post‐test intragroup comparisons, only the intervention group presented significant differences for depression (MD = −2.16, p = 0.024, Cohen's d = −0.40), stress (MD = −2.08, p = 0.039, Cohen's d = −0.48) and personal accomplishment (MD = −5.77, p = 0.036, Cohen's d = −0.76).…”

Burnout, psychopathology and purpose in life in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic

“…Other techniques that have already been used with healthcare workers with favorable results were Yoga ( 48 ) and Tai Chi ( 49 ) sessions seeking to reduce anxiety symptoms and improving sleep quality. Protocols for teaching emotional regulation techniques to healthcare personnel have also been tried and have shown efficacy in their initial applications, so further research on these aspects is needed ( 50 ).…”