Dysfunctional Coping Mediates the Relationship between Stress and Mental Health in Health-Care Staff Working amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: The cross-sectional study aimed to assess the stress outcomes in health care staff working during the Covid-19 pandemic and to explore the role of coping in the relationship between stress outcomes and mental health dimensions with Preacher & Hayes's mediation analysis. Subjects and methods: 170 participants including physicians (n=41; 24.1%), nurses (n=114, 67.1%) and paramedics (n = 15, 8.8%) with a mean age of 37.69 ± 12,23 years and an average seniority of 14.40 ±12.32 years. were administered The Toronto Alexithymia Scale– 20 (TAS – 20), Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The data were analyzed by estimation of simple correlation coefficients and a Preacher and Hayes's mediation procedure. Results: Participants reported elevated levels of stress (7-8 sten on the sten scale developed for the PSS-10 questionnaire). Statistically significant differences in the stress levels between nurses, paramedics and physicians could not determined. In contrast, significant association between mental health outcomes and occupational category could not be found. Coping mediated the relationship between coping strategies and mental health outcomes. A positive and significant relationship was observed between stress, dysfunctional coping strategies and mental health. Conclusion: Our observations support the assumption about a controlling role of coping in the relationship between work-related stress and mental health outcomes in the medical staff working amid pandemic.

Stress and depressive symptoms among Italian mental health nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-sectional study

“…Compared to other studies, generally conducted in intensive settings or totally dedicated to COVID-19 positive patients (Murat, Köse, & Savas ¸er, 2021), lower stress levels were found in the sample analyzed, while compared to studies conducted on samples of nurses that were not totally firstly, comparable results were obtained (Chatzittofis, Karanikola, Michailidou, & Constantinidou, 2021;Warchoł-Biedermann et al, 2021).…”

Turnover intention and coronaphobia among frontline nurses during the second surge of COVID‐19: The mediating role of social support and coping skills

“…Even with overwhelming circumstances such as the current pandemic, health care personnel including nurses can sustain their psychological and mental health and maintain their overall well‐being when they are equipped with positive coping skills (Chew et al, 2020; Shahrour & Dardas, 2020). Although evidence during the coronavirus pandemic has identified coping skills as an important factor in frontline nurses' level of emotional distress (Lorente et al, 2021), stress and secondary trauma (Vagni et al, 2020), and stress and mental health (Warchoł‐Biedermann et al, 2021), to our knowledge this study is the first to confirm the mediating effects of coping skills on the coronaphobia–turnover intention relationship. While this study does not reveal which coping mechanisms exert the greatest influence on the coronaphobia–turnover intention relationship, studies during the earlier surge of the virus strongly associated the use of problem‐solving strategies and other problem‐centred coping skills with lower emotional exhaustion, stress, dysfunctional anxiety, and traumatic symptoms (Mi et al, 2020; Zhu et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, other coping mechanisms previously identified as effective for combating stressors, such as outdoor activities and exercise, can be more challenging at this time. Hence, innovative and alternative approaches should be used to maintain the social connectedness of nurses with their families, friends, and peers (such as the use of social media and other technologies) and to equip them with positive coping skills (Labrague, 2021; Warchoł‐Biedermann et al, 2021). Hospital administration should reinforce coping abilities in nurses through coping skills training, resilience‐promoting approaches, and other empirically‐based skill‐building interventions that can be delivered in person or online (Weiner et al, 2020; Zhang, Jiang, et al, 2021).…”

“…Social support was found to reduce the deleterious consequences of the pandemic on nurses' psychological and emotional health (Shechter et al, 2020; Song & McDonald, 2021), while inadequate social support was associated with deteriorations in mental health (Schierberl Scherr et al, 2021). Further, social support and coping skills both acted as important mediators to reduce the negative influence of the pandemic on nurses' mental health, resulting in reduced emotional stress (Lorente et al, 2021) and secondary trauma (Vagni et al, 2020) and in improved psychological well‐being (Warchoł‐Biedermann et al, 2021). Based on the literature, it is logical to assume that coping skills and social support may also reduce the effects of coronaphobia on nurses' intention to leave their organisation or the profession.…”

Synthesis of Evidence to Support EMS Personnel's Mental Health During Disease Outbreaks: A Scoping Review

“…All study designs were cross-sectional. Four studies used exploratory qualitative methods [ [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] ], four used quantitative descriptive techniques [ 14 , [30] , [31] , [32] ], 16 used correlational/analysis techniques [ 13 , 15 , 19 , 21 , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] ], and one used mixed methods [ 45 ]. In terms of study population, EMS personnel were studied independently in 14 articles.…”