ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of healthcare workers, who have taken on the major problems triggered by the emergency. The mental consequences concern high levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression and burnout, which inevitably affect their professional quality of life too. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between psychopathological symptoms (tested with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, DASS-21) and professional quality of life (measured with the Professional Quality of Life Scale, ProQol) in a hospital of southern Italy. Methods: 204 healthcare workers were recruited by non-probabilistic sampling and divided by age, gender, work roles (physicians, nurses and intermediate care technicians) and clinical departments (Cardio-medicine, Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medicine, First Aid, Obstetrics and Pneumology). Results: The results showed higher levels of Secondary Traumatic Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Stress in women than in men. Physicians and nurses experienced lower levels of Compassion Satisfaction but higher Burnout than intermediate care technicians; likewise, nurses were more anxious than physicians. The Emergency Medicine had higher scores in Compassion Satisfaction than Infectious Disease, Pneumology, Obstetrics and Cardio-Medicine. Conclusion: In light of what has been said so far, it appears essential to intervene on the first mild signs of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress, because they precede the onset of Depression, Stress and Anxiety in healthcare workers.
ABSTRACT
The Habit Reversal Training (HRT) is a behavioral procedure for treating the so-called nervous habits, such as nail biting, hair pulling and thumb sucking. In addition to being an established clinical procedure, HRT is also a strategy for behavioral change that can serve the entire community. For this reason, this review aims to explore the studies proposing the use of HRT for the reduction of hand-to-face habits in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Touching one's nose, mouth and eyes, indeed, is one of the means of virus transmission that many awareness campaigns seek to highlight. After an overview of how HRT works and of the current epidemiological situation, studies supporting Habit Reversal Training for the reduction of risky hand-to-face habits are presented. The possible strategies are then exposed and critically discussed to identify their limitations and propose a new version according to the Relational Frame Theory.
ABSTRACT
Italy was the first European country to be affected by the 2019 coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19). Several studies have shown the risk of developing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in medical and paramedical staff. Causes included the high contagiousness of the virus, the fear of contracting it, the lack of adequate personal protective equipment, and physical and psychological fatigue. In this context, resilience represents a protective factor against adversity and stress burden. The aim of this research was to investigate if and how the resilience and personality profile is able to influence the response to stress and anxiety on a sample of Italian healthcare workers, during the COVID-19 outbreak. The sample consisted of 152 frontline healthcare workers, physicians, and paramedical professionals. Participants completed the online questionnaire measuring the Resilience Scale for Adults, the Big Five Inventory-10 Item, the State Anxiety Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Analyses of data aimed to show differences in the stress of healthcare workers due to gender and professional role, and at finding, by means of multidimensional scaling, the relations among anxiety, stress, resilience, and traits of personality. The findings gave some suggestions for implementing strategies useful to increase the resilience in healthcare workers and support them to cope with stressful events, typical of the pandemic emergency.