Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine.
<h4>Introduction</h4>The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe detrimental effects on the mental well-being of health care workers (HCW). Consequently, there has been a need to identify health-promoting resources in order to mitigate the psychological impact of the pandemic on HCW.<h4&...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255211 |
| _version_ | 1798033552057565184 |
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| author | Jonas Schmuck Nina Hiebel Milena Rabe Juliane Schneider Yesim Erim Eva Morawa Lucia Jerg-Bretzke Petra Beschoner Christian Albus Julian Hannemann Kerstin Weidner Susann Steudte-Schmiedgen Lukas Radbruch Holger Brunsch Franziska Geiser |
| author_facet | Jonas Schmuck Nina Hiebel Milena Rabe Juliane Schneider Yesim Erim Eva Morawa Lucia Jerg-Bretzke Petra Beschoner Christian Albus Julian Hannemann Kerstin Weidner Susann Steudte-Schmiedgen Lukas Radbruch Holger Brunsch Franziska Geiser |
| author_sort | Jonas Schmuck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe detrimental effects on the mental well-being of health care workers (HCW). Consequently, there has been a need to identify health-promoting resources in order to mitigate the psychological impact of the pandemic on HCW.<h4>Objective</h4>Our objective was to investigate the association of sense of coherence (SOC), social support and religiosity with self-reported mental symptoms and increase of subjective burden during the COVID-19 pandemic in HCW.<h4>Methods</h4>Our sample comprised 4324 HCW of four professions (physicians, nurses, medical technical assistants (MTA) and pastoral workers) who completed an online survey from 20 April to 5 July 2020. Health-promoting resources were assessed using the Sense of Coherence Scale Short Form (SOC-3), the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory (ESSI) and one item on religiosity derived from the Scale of Transpersonal Trust (TPV). Anxiety and depression symptoms were measured with the PHQ-2 and GAD-2. The increase of subjective burden due to the pandemic was assessed as the retrospective difference between burden during the pandemic and before the pandemic.<h4>Results</h4>In multiple regressions, higher SOC was strongly associated with fewer anxiety and depression symptoms. Higher social support was also related to less severe mental symptoms, but with a smaller effect size, while religiosity showed minimal to no correlation with anxiety or depression. In professional group analysis, SOC was negatively associated with mental symptoms in all groups, while social support only correlated significantly with mental health outcomes in physicians and MTA. In the total sample and among subgroups, an increase of subjective burden was meaningfully associated only with a weaker SOC.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Perceived social support and especially higher SOC appeared to be beneficial for mental health of HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the different importance of the resources in the respective occupations requires further research to identify possible reasons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:32:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2de3d531fca64070b7969fe0d6d0eb7f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:32:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-2de3d531fca64070b7969fe0d6d0eb7f2022-12-22T04:04:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01167e025521110.1371/journal.pone.0255211Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine.Jonas SchmuckNina HiebelMilena RabeJuliane SchneiderYesim ErimEva MorawaLucia Jerg-BretzkePetra BeschonerChristian AlbusJulian HannemannKerstin WeidnerSusann Steudte-SchmiedgenLukas RadbruchHolger BrunschFranziska Geiser<h4>Introduction</h4>The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe detrimental effects on the mental well-being of health care workers (HCW). Consequently, there has been a need to identify health-promoting resources in order to mitigate the psychological impact of the pandemic on HCW.<h4>Objective</h4>Our objective was to investigate the association of sense of coherence (SOC), social support and religiosity with self-reported mental symptoms and increase of subjective burden during the COVID-19 pandemic in HCW.<h4>Methods</h4>Our sample comprised 4324 HCW of four professions (physicians, nurses, medical technical assistants (MTA) and pastoral workers) who completed an online survey from 20 April to 5 July 2020. Health-promoting resources were assessed using the Sense of Coherence Scale Short Form (SOC-3), the ENRICHD Social Support Inventory (ESSI) and one item on religiosity derived from the Scale of Transpersonal Trust (TPV). Anxiety and depression symptoms were measured with the PHQ-2 and GAD-2. The increase of subjective burden due to the pandemic was assessed as the retrospective difference between burden during the pandemic and before the pandemic.<h4>Results</h4>In multiple regressions, higher SOC was strongly associated with fewer anxiety and depression symptoms. Higher social support was also related to less severe mental symptoms, but with a smaller effect size, while religiosity showed minimal to no correlation with anxiety or depression. In professional group analysis, SOC was negatively associated with mental symptoms in all groups, while social support only correlated significantly with mental health outcomes in physicians and MTA. In the total sample and among subgroups, an increase of subjective burden was meaningfully associated only with a weaker SOC.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Perceived social support and especially higher SOC appeared to be beneficial for mental health of HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the different importance of the resources in the respective occupations requires further research to identify possible reasons.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255211 |
| spellingShingle | Jonas Schmuck Nina Hiebel Milena Rabe Juliane Schneider Yesim Erim Eva Morawa Lucia Jerg-Bretzke Petra Beschoner Christian Albus Julian Hannemann Kerstin Weidner Susann Steudte-Schmiedgen Lukas Radbruch Holger Brunsch Franziska Geiser Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. PLoS ONE |
| title | Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. |
| title_full | Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. |
| title_fullStr | Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. |
| title_short | Sense of coherence, social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A web-based survey among 4324 health care workers within the German Network University Medicine. |
| title_sort | sense of coherence social support and religiosity as resources for medical personnel during the covid 19 pandemic a web based survey among 4324 health care workers within the german network university medicine |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255211 |
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