Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Resilience in Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic (COVID-19)

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety, and psychological resilience variables with working conditions and various demographic variables in healthcare professionals who are actively involved in the pandemic process.

This study included 1440 healthcare workers in different professions in two state hospitals accepted as pandemic hospitals. The research data were collected with the Sociodemographic Data Form, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), and Psychological Resilience Scale (PRS). Independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and descriptive analyses were used to analyze the data.

As a result of the analyses, female participants had higher anxiety scores than male participants; healthcare professionals working as nurses, midwives, and health officers had higher anxiety scores than other healthcare professionals; those with less professional experience had higher anxiety scores than those with more professional experience; and those who had long hours of contact with COVID-19-positive patients (8 h or more per day) had higher anxiety scores than those with less contact. Single female healthcare workers reported higher depression symptoms than married female healthcare workers, those with children reported higher depression symptoms than those without children, and those with average professional experience (6-10 years) reported higher depression symptoms than those with more experience. Being single, having children, and having an average number of shifts (working at night) caused an increase in psychological resilience.

The results of the study may contribute to the structuring of health policies to protect and support the mental health of healthcare workers in ongoing and future pandemic processes.