Work Coping, Stress Appraisal, and Psychological Resilience: Reactionto the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Health Care Providers

Objective: This study examined the relationship between perceived stress appraisals and coping style during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting distress reaction and effects on work engagement. Method: The sample (N = 423) was 78.6% female with average age and education of 38.5 and 18.4 years, respectively. Most respondents reported working in psychology/neuropsychology (31.7%) and rehabilitation/other therapies (29.7%). Surveys were distributed via Qualtrics among health care providers via listservs and referral emails from medical providers. Measures included: the Brief COPE Inventory, Work and Well Being Survey (UWES), Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7), and the Screening Tool for Psychological Distress (STOP-D). Results: Health care workers endorsing problem-focused coping styles had lower levels of perceived threat and higher levels of perceived control in their response to the pandemic. Problemfocused coping was negatively associated with anxiety and depression in reaction to the pandemic when compared with health care workers who endorsed an emotion-focused coping style. Higher stress appraisal in response to perceived threat from the pandemic was not associated with lower work engagement or enthusiasm. Conclusions: Findings support the impact of coping style on psychological distress and work engagement during pandemic, with implications that these factors may be important considerations for mitigation of distress and burnout for health care workers during times of high stress. Initiatives to improve resiliency and wellness in health care workers may examine modifiable interventions for coping style.

Molecular architecture of early dissemination and massive second wave of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a major metropolitan area

We sequenced the genomes of 5,085 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains causing two coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease waves in metropolitan Houston, TX, an ethnically diverse region with 7 million residents. The genomes were from viruses recovered in the earliest recognized phase of the pandemic in Houston and from viruses recovered in an ongoing massive second wave of infections. The virus was originally introduced into Houston many times independently. Virtually all strains in the second wave have a Gly614 amino acid replacement in the spike protein, a polymorphism that has been linked to increased transmission and infectivity. Patients infected with the Gly614 variant strains had significantly higher virus loads in the nasopharynx on initial diagnosis. We found little evidence of a significant relationship between virus genotype and altered virulence, stressing the linkage between disease severity, underlying medical conditions, and host genetics. Some regions of the spike protein-the primary target of global vaccine efforts-are replete with amino acid replacements, perhaps indicating the action of selection. We exploited the genomic data to generate defined single amino acid replacements in the receptor binding domain of spike protein that, importantly, produced decreased recognition by the neutralizing monoclonal antibody CR3022. Our report represents the first analysis of the molecular architecture of SARS-CoV-2 in two infection waves in a major metropolitan region. The findings will help us to understand the origin, composition, and trajectory of future infection waves and the potential effect of the host immune response and therapeutic maneuvers on SARS-CoV-2 evolution.