Psychological distress in health care workers during the beginning, the middle, and the last part of the COVID-19 pandemic
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11130%2F25%3A10497267" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11130/25:10497267 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/00216208:11120/25:43928354
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=06-kxHijFE" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=06-kxHijFE</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95363-6" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41598-025-95363-6</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Psychological distress in health care workers during the beginning, the middle, and the last part of the COVID-19 pandemic
Original language description
The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant psychological strain on healthcare workers. Our study tracked health care workers in the Czech Republic throughout the pandemic to examine the impact of stressors on psychological distress over time and explore gender differences in these associations. We studied health care workers from the Czech arm of the international COVID-19 HEROES Study who took part in all three waves of data collection in 2020, 2021 and 2022 (n = 264). We employed a path model to examine the relationships among six stressors (low trust in workplace, assignment of new tasks, prioritization of patients, experience of death due to COVID-19, experience of discrimination or violence, contact with COVID-19 patients), psychological distress (measured by General Health Questionnaire), and covariates (age, gender, occupation). We incorporated autoregressive paths and interactions to assess the longitudinal impact of stressors. Prior levels of distress predicted subsequent distress, with significant carry-over effects observed between each wave. Stressors had direct association to distress in the same wave of data collection (2020 and 2021), but not in subsequent waves, and stressors in 2022 did not have a significant direct effect to distress. Men reported lower distress in 2020 and 2021, but not in 2022. Furthermore, no significant interactions between stressors and gender were found. Age and occupation were not related to distress levels. There is a need for adaptable mental health support that addresses current stressors through targeted interventions, while also providing ongoing monitoring beyond crises, particularly for individuals with high distress levels.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
30300 - Health sciences
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/NU22J-09-00064" target="_blank" >NU22J-09-00064: Caring for those who care for us: Individual predictors and intervention strategies for mental health of healthcare workers</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Scientific Reports
ISSN
2045-2322
e-ISSN
2045-2322
Volume of the periodical
15
Issue of the periodical within the volume
April
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
8
Pages from-to
12163
UT code for WoS article
001464297900017
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105003234930