The role of social support and resilience in the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare workers in Spain

Abstract

Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) from COVID-19 pandemic hotspots across the globe have reported mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, or sleep problems. Many studies have focused on identifying modifiable risk factors, such as being afraid of getting infected or reporting shortage of personal protective equipment, but none have explored the role of protective factors. Method This cross-sectional study used an online survey to describe the association between three potentially protective factors (self-reported resilience, self-perceived social support from colleagues at work, and self-perceived social support from relatives and friends) and three mental health outcomes, namely psychological distress, depression symptoms, and death thoughts in a large sample of Spanish HCWs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results We recruited 2372 respondents between April 26th and June 22nd, 2020. Resilience and self-perceived social support were inversely associated with mental health problems (psychological distress, depression symptoms, and death thoughts), after adjusting for potential sources of confounding. Conclusions Resilience and self-perceived social support might protect HCWs against negative mental health outcomes. Public health strategies targeting these modifiable determinants might help to reduce the impact of the pandemic on HCWs’ mental health.

Mental health problems and needs of frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: A qualitative analysis

“…Even when the stressor is unmodifiable (e.g., living with an 80-year-old relative or vaccines not yet developed), psychological strategies can still modify mediational factors, such as fears or appraisal styles ( 51 , 52 ). At the interpersonal level , HCWs reported determinants across various problems, which is also in line with COVID-19 studies conducted among HCWs ( 53 , 54 ). Importantly, we found that perceived social isolation is a consequence of many reported problems.…”

Determinants of Pain-Induced Disability in German Women with Endometriosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…When adjusted for other factors, such as mental health, we did not find a direct significant association between resilience and pain-induced disability. Nevertheless, as reported previously, resilience is a protective factor against adverse psychological outcomes [ 74 , 75 ]. Resilience has been described as a predictor of coping with threats, and a predictor of mental well-being in people experiencing natural disasters and health crises [ 42 , 43 , 94 , 95 , 96 ].…”

“…In contrast, perceived social support related to the experience of pain showed no significant influence on pain-induced disability when it was adjusted for multiple potential predictors. Social support and resilience were acknowledged as protectors of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 19 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. Taken together, these results suggest that social support may act as a mediator of pain-induced disability through resilience and mental health rather than an independent factor.…”

Experience of Physical and Mental Symptoms when Confirmed Positive COVID-19 among Community in Tarakan City, Indonesia

“…Research conducted previously explained that most people have difficulty maintaining physical and mental health conditions and have consequences experiencing psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, severe stress, and fatigue during quarantine due to COVID-19 (24). Other risk factors identified were feeling unsupported, concerns about personal health, fear of carrying the infection and transmitting it to family members or others, isolation, feelings of uncertainty, and social stigmatization (25,26). Other studies supporting the research results stated several manifestations of helplessness experienced by COVID-19 sufferers, including emotional, motivational, and behavioural symptoms, which all decrease and affect a person's depression (10,27).…”