Interpersonal Needs and Dysfunctional Self-Focus Mediate the Effect of Dysfunctional Pandemic Grief on Suicidality...

We aimed to explore whether the dysfunctional pandemic grief of nursing professionals who experienced a patient's death may be related with their suicidal ideation and examine whether their interpersonal problems and dysfunctional self-focus mediate this association.

An anonymous online survey was conducted on November 16-18, 2023 among nurses in a tertiary hospital who witnessed people's death. Their psychological states were assessed using the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) for healthcare workers, Dysfunctional Self-focus Attributes Scale (DSAS), Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ), and Depressive Symptom Inventory-Suicidality Subscale (DSI-SS). Linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the expecting variables for the DSI-SS. Mediation analysis was performed to examine the mediating effects of self-focus and interpersonal problems between grief reaction and suicidal ideation.

The PGS (β = 0.18, P = 0.005), INQ-Perceived Burdensomeness (INQ-PB; β = 0.51, P < 0.001), and DSAS-Negatively Biased Focus (DSAS-NBF; β = 0.17, P = 0.021) were significantly associated with the DSI-SS. Mediation analysis using these variables showed that the PGS directly influenced the DSI-SS, and the INQ-PB and DSAS-NBF partially mediated the influence of the PGS on DSI-SS.

Dysfunctional grief experienced by nurses following the loss of patients during the pandemic exacerbated suicidal ideation by fostering a greater focus on negative outcomes and heightened feelings of being a burden. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address these specific cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities to mitigate the risk of suicidal ideation.