The North Italian Longitudinal Study Assessing the Mental Health Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Health Care Workers—Part II: Structural Validity of Scales Assessing Mental Health

Abstract

It is unclear if the factor structure of the questionnaires that were employed by studies addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Healthcare Workers (HCW) did not change due to the pandemic. The aim of this study is to assess the factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the factor structure of the General Health Questionnare-12 (GHQ-12), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5-Short Form (PCL-5-SF), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10) and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF). Out of n = 805 HCWs from a University hospital who responded to a pre-COVID-19 survey, n = 431 were re-assessed after the COVID-19 outbreak. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the MBI showed adequate fit and good internal consistency only after removal of items 2, 6, 12 and 16. The assumptions of configural and metric longitudinal invariance were met, whereas scalar longitudinal invariance did not hold. CFAs and exploratory bifactor analyses performed using data from the second wave confirmed that the GHQ-12, the PCL-5-SF, the PTGI-SF and the CD-RISC-10 were unidimensional. In conclusion, we found support for a refined version of the MBI. The comparison of mean MBI values in HCWs before and after the pandemic should be interpreted with caution.

The North Italian Longitudinal Study Assessing the Mental Health Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Health Care Workers—Part I: Study Design and Psychometric Structural Validity of the HSE Indicator Tool and Work Satisfaction Scale

“…Among the study strengths, we mention: the longitudinal study design with a representative and large sample at both pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 waves; the adoption of several mental health outcome scales; and the assessment of protective factors which help individuals to maintain the psychological wellbeing, such as resilience [ 29 ] and post-traumatic growth [ 30 ]. A parallel paper addresses the structural validity of the outcome scales, including measurement invariance over time, as well as of their potential mediators and effect modifiers [ 23 ]. Taken together, the two companion papers can provide useful suggestions on methodological issues related to the causal link between pandemic and mental health.…”

“…We adopted the validated Italian version of all these questionnaires. The psychometric properties of these scales in our study sample are assessed and discussed in a companion paper [ 23 ].…”

“…In this paper, we report on sample representativeness and structural validity of the HSE and of a work satisfaction scale. A parallel paper will address the structural validity and the longitudinal invariance of the selected scales to appraise mental health disorders [ 23 ].…”

Benefit finding and well-being over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Identifying as female was strongly associated with greater experience of general benefits, but the same relationship was not observed with spiritual benefits. Participants in the younger two age groups (18-29 and 30-39) were less likely to experience spiritual benefits, while participants in just the youngest age group (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29) were less likely to experience general benefits. Educational attainment was negatively associated with both measures of benefit finding.…”

The long wave of COVID-19: a case report using Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for COVID-19-related nightmares after admission to intensive care unit

“…The COVID-19 pandemic and confinement measures are established adverse events increasing the risk of anxiety, fear of contagion, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Giusti et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Rapelli et al, 2020 ; Rossi et al, 2020 ; Pietrabissa et al, 2021 ). Changes in daily routine and work schedule also caused alterations in the sleep–wake cycle and decreased sleep quality ( Franceschini et al, 2020 ).…”