Post-traumatic growth trajectories among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A three-wave follow-up study in mainland China

Abstract

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people worldwide for more than 2 years. Previous studies have highlighted the negative effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) more than the positive changes, such as post-traumatic growth (PTG). Furthermore, most previous studies were cross-sectional surveys without follow-ups. This study draws on PTG follow-up during the COVID-19 outbreak at 12-month intervals for 2 years since 2020. The trajectories and baseline predictors were described.MethodsA convenience sampling method was used to recruit frontline nurses or doctors at the COVID-19-designated hospital who were eligible for this study. A total of 565 HCWs completed the 2 years follow-up and were used for final data analysis. The latent growth mixture models (GMM) was used to identify subgroups of participants with different PTG trajectories. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to find predictors among sociodemographic characteristics and resilience at baseline.ResultsFour trajectory PTG types among HCWs were identified: ‘Persistent, “Steady increase”, “High with drop”, and “Fluctuated rise.” Comparing the “Persistent low” type, the other three categories were all associated with older age, higher education. Furthermore, “Persistent low” was also negatively associated with resilience at baseline.ConclusionThe PTG of HCWs with different characteristics showed different trends over time. It is necessary to increase the measure frequency to understand the PTG status in different times. Improving HCW’s resilience could help improve staff PTG.

The levels and related factors of posttraumatic growth among nurses: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The included studies were conducted between 2013 and 2022 in various countries, including China ( K = 26), Israel ( K = 7), the USA ( K = 6), South Korea ( K = 6), Turkey ( K = 3), Poland ( K = 3), Australia (Aggar et al, 2022), Kosovo (Prekazi et al, 2021), Spain (Rodríguez‐Rey et al, 2019) and Palestine (Shamia et al, 2015), each contributing one study. Out of the included studies, 53 had a cross‐sectional design, and 2 were longitudinal cohort studies (Jesse, 2013; Yan et al, 2022) (Table 1).…”

“…The majority of the nurses included in the studies were female (88%, N = 31,361), with ages ranging from 18 to 62.28 years. Most of the nurses were various clinical nurses (84.1%, N = 29,947), while 12 studies focused on front‐line nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic (13.74%, N = 4896) (Atay et al, 2022; Cui, Hu, et al, 2021; Cui, Wang, et al, 2021; Li et al, 2020; Liu et al, 2021; Mo et al, 2021; Peng et al, 2021; Prekazi et al, 2021; Sarıalioğlu et al, 2022; Yan et al, 2022; Yim & Kim, 2022; Zhang, Zhang, et al, 2021) and 4 studies focused on ICU nurses (2.26%, N = 701) (Chang et al, 2021; Ma et al, 2022; Rodríguez‐Rey et al, 2019; Shao et al, 2019).…”

“…This, in turn, can have a positive impact on the healthcare system and the nursing profession. Furthermore, PTG has been associated with reduced psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, as well as improved quality of life among traumatized nurses (Martz et al, 2018; Yan et al, 2022; Yeung et al, 2022). It can also moderate the negative effects of traumatic work‐related experiences on life satisfaction (Rodríguez‐Rey et al, 2019).…”

How does the COVID-19-related work-life balance impact stress on primary healthcare workers?

“…Considering the data collection period of our study conducted in mid-2022, in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary healthcare workers may have become more resilient. A cohort study in three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that health professionals developed a stronger resiliency during the pandemic and actuated their coping strategies (20). Resilient health workers during the pandemic can cope with their stress, preserve their di culties and mobilize a response to always focus on their achievement (20).…”

“…A cohort study in three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that health professionals developed a stronger resiliency during the pandemic and actuated their coping strategies (20). Resilient health workers during the pandemic can cope with their stress, preserve their di culties and mobilize a response to always focus on their achievement (20). The resilience of health workers also explains our other ndings that the health workers burdened with multiple tasks related to COVID-19 are likely more fruitful for primary health workers rather than only working monotonously on COVID-19 handling.…”