The moderating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress, in a cohort of rural and regional healthcare workers. During major lockdowns in Victoria, Australia 2020–2021

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • Georgia Petrou
  • Angela Crombie
  • Stephen Begg
  • Skinner, Timothy
  • Peter Faulkner
  • Anne McEvoy
  • Carol Parker
  • Kevin Masman
  • Laura Bamforth
  • Gabriel Caccaviello
  • Evan Stanyer
  • Mark McEvoy

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial pressures for healthcare workers across the world. The association between fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress, and the role of psychological resilience have gained research interest. The current study aimed to investigate the cross-sectional association between fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress, in Australian rural/regional healthcare workers and determine whether resilience modifies this association. Most participants were nurses (38.0%), mean age was 44.9 years, and 80.5% were female (N = 1313). An adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that the highest tertile of the Fear of COVID-19 scale was associated with higher odds of moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety (OR = 3.72, 95% CI = 2.27, 6.11; p < 0.001) and depression (OR = 3.48, 95% CI = 2.30, 5.28; p < 0.001). Healthcare workers with high level of fear of COVID-19 and low level of resilience were much more likely to report moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety (OR = 12.27, 95% CI = 6.65–22.65, p < 0.001) and depression (OR = 12.21, 95% CI = 6.93–21.50, p < 0.001) when compared to healthcare workers with low level of fear of COVID-19 and high level of resilience. A cross-sectional design was used and therefore cause and effect between fear of COVID-19 and psychological distress cannot be inferred. Longitudinal research is needed to investigate the possible causal relationship. These findings highlight the potential mental health effects of fear of COVID-19 on HCWs and demonstrate the importance of resilience as a possible moderator of these effects.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftInternational Journal of Mental Health Nursing
ISSN1445-8330
DOI
StatusAccepteret/In press - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

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