Hopelessness and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Any Role for Mediating Variables?
Open Access
- 18 June 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Vol. 18 (12), 6579
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126579
Abstract
The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has many psychological consequences for the population, ranging from anxious-depressive symptoms and insomnia to complex post-traumatic syndromes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of healthcare workers, focusing on the association between hopelessness, death anxiety, and post-traumatic symptomatology. Eight hundred forty-two healthcare workers were recruited between 21 March 2020 and 15 May 2020. A specific questionnaire was administered to assess socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, together with psychometric scales: Beck Hopelessness Scale, Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS). Respondents with hopelessness scored higher in the DAS and DTS than respondents without hopelessness. Furthermore, death anxiety was identified as a potential mediator of the significant association between hopelessness and post-traumatic symptomatology. The impact of death anxiety should be recognized in vulnerable populations, such as frontline healthcare workers. Therefore, pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies could be useful to attenuate the negative psychological consequences and reduce the burden worldwide.This publication has 64 references indexed in Scilit:
- The impact of the current economic crisis on mental health in Italy: evidence from two representative national surveysEuropean Journal of Public Health, 2017
- Standardization of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in the general populationJournal of Mental Health, 2016
- Consistency and factorial invariance of the Davidson trauma scale in heterogeneous populations: results from the 2010 Chilean earthquakeInternational Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 2016
- Burnout and Death Anxiety in Hospice Social WorkersJournal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 2014
- Personal Death Anxiety and Communication About Advance Directives Among Oncology Social WorkersJournal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 2009
- Relationship Between Hopelessness and Ultimate Suicide: A Replication With Psychiatric OutpatientsFOCUS, 2006
- Item factor analysis of the Italian version of the Death Anxiety ScaleJournal of Clinical Psychology, 1996
- Relationship between hopelessness and ultimate suicide: a replication with psychiatric outpatientsAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 1990
- Hopelessness and suicidal behavior. An overview.1975
- Hopelessness and Suicidal BehaviorJAMA, 1975