Psychological effects of trauma, negative and positive coping, resilience, and psychological distress among Chinese healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Journal of mood and anxiety disorders 2024-03, Vol.5, p.100046, Article 100046
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shujing, Liu, Daphne Y., Bai, Jinbing, Fu, Jia-Chen, Jiang, Feng, Nehl, Eric, Liu, Huanzhong, Liu, Yanqun, Zhang, Chunhua, Tang, Yi-lang, Kaslow, Nadine J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2950-0044; 2950-0044
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100046

Limited data are available on risk (psychological effects of trauma, negative coping) and protective (resilience, positive coping) factors for psychological distress among Chinese healthcare workers (HCWs) during the pandemic. Thus, this study investigated the: (1) association between both the psychological effects of trauma and negative coping and psychological distress; and (2) moderating effects of resilience and positive coping on these associations. Participants (n = 196; Mage = 32.8; SDage = 7.5; 77% female) from two hospitals in China completed self-report measures of the psychological effects of trauma (Impact of Event Scale-Revised), negative and positive coping (Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire), resilience (Connor Davidson Resilience Scale) and distress (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire-9) in March 2022. Results from this cross-sectional study revealed that HCWs who endorsed greater psychological effects of trauma had more psychological distress when they had lower levels of positive coping ((DASS-21 (b = −0.03, SE = 0.01, p = .007); PHQ-9 (b = −0.005, SE = 0.002, p = .015)). HCWs who endorsed more negative coping had more psychological distress when they were less resilient ((DASS-21 (b = −0.02, SE = 0.01, p = .035); PHQ-9 ((b = −0.01, SE = 0.002, p = .031)) and used less positive coping ((DASS-21 (b = −0.13, SE = 0.03, p