Mental health of healthcare professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: a comparative investigation from the first and second pandemic years
- Author(s)
- Gesa Duden, Julia Reiter, Angela Paswerg, Stephan Weibelzahl
- Abstract
Healthcare staff have been facing particular mental health challenges during the COVID-19-pandemic. Building on a first study at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, we aimed to investigate among healthcare professionals in Germany and Austria (1) how mental health may have changed in professionals over the course of the ongoing pandemic, (2) whether there are differences between different professional groups regarding mental health, (3) which stress factors may explain these mental health outcomes and (4) whether help-seeking behaviour is related to caretaker self-image or team climate. Between March and June 2021, N=639 healthcare professionals completed an online survey including the ICD-10 Symptom Rating checklist, event-sampling questions on pandemic-related stressors and self-formulated questions on help-seeking behaviour and team climate. Findings were analysed using t-tests, regressions and comparisons to a sample of healthcare professionals assessed in 2020 as well as to norm samples. Results show that mental health symptoms, particularly for depression and anxiety, persist among healthcare staff in the second pandemic year, that symptom prevalence rates are higher among nursing staff compared with physicians and paramedics and that team climate is associated with mental health outcomes. Implications of these findings in relation to the persisting pandemic and its aftermath are discussed.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology
- External organisation(s)
- FernUniversität in Hagen, PFH Private Hochschule Göttingen
- Journal
- BMJ Open
- Volume
- 13
- ISSN
- 2044-6055
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067244
- Publication date
- 03-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 501010 Clinical psychology, 501003 Occupational psychology, 501002 Applied psychology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/mental-health-of-healthcare-professionals-during-the-ongoing-covid19-pandemic-a-comparative-investigation-from-the-first-and-second-pandemic-years(638d30a3-3140-4eed-9f26-70ddae6bea44).html