The impact of positive thinking on anxiety level of corona virus/ covid-19 infection during the lockdown among UNRWA staff in Jordan.

The current study aimed to identify the impact of positive thinking on the anxiety of Coronavirus infection through the lockdown among UNRWA staff in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study, three measures were developed, the Positive Thinking Scale, the anxiety level of Coronavirus Infection Scale, and the lockdown Scale. A sample of (2036) employees responded to the measures. The results showed that the level of anxiety for COVID -19 infection among the sample was high, and statistically significant differences were found in the level of Covid-19 infection anxiety according to the sex variable for females, also statistically differences were found in the level of anxiety in COVID-19 infection according to age in favor of (31-40), and statistically differences for the social status in favor of married couples. Results also showed a direct negative impact of positive thinking variable on the level of anxiety associated with COVID-19 infection, and an effect of positive thinking on the level of anxiety during activating the lockdown. The study recommends designing training programs for employees to help them adapt to different circumstances and enable them to continue performing their assigned work. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of An-Najah University Journal for Research, B: Humanities is the property of An-Najah National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Evaluation of Investor's Financial Attitude towards Trading Activity during Pandemic

Investors' trading activities are influenced by their financial attitudes. Even though existing research has recognized and investigated their relationship, behavioral assessments and financial attitude still poses questions. Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence about the trading activity of retail investors in the instance of a health crisis, like COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of study is to fill in the gaps in the existing literature by studying the relative impact of five dimensions of financial attitude on trading activity of retail investors' during the pandemic. We have used five dimensions to measure financial attitude such as financial anxiety, optimism of investors, financial security, self-control, and the need for precautionary savings. We collected 512 responses from retail investors with the help of a structured questionnaire. We analyzed financial attitude and trading activity using SEM to establish the structural relationship. The observed findings disclosed that self-control is the dominant variable followed by financial security, need for precautionary savings, financial anxiety, and optimism. © 2022, School of Management Sciences. All rights reserved.

Patient and public involvement in the development, delivery and evaluation of a novel engagement intervention in early intervention in psychosis services

Background: The Early Youth Engagement (EYE) project co-developed the first engagement-focussed intervention derived from the perspectives of young people and their families in Early Intervention in Psychosis services. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the EYE-2 study aimed to ensure that the voices of people experiencing first episode psychosis, and carers, were embedded in the refinement, delivery and evaluation of the Early Youth Engagement (EYE-2) approach across the UK. Method(s): The EYE-2 project used a multi-level PPI approach: Each of five sites had a PPI lead, trained and supported by senior PPI researchers. PPI leads convened local Lived Experience Advisory Panels (LEAPs), and co-delivered staff and researcher training. Practical challenges were identified and resolved. Results and Impacts: Tangible PPI impacts included: the co-produced revised booklets and EYE-2 website https://www.likemind.nhs.uk following workshops of over 40 people;the delivery of on average 52 peer-led intervention social groups at each site, allowing people to connect with peers with lived experience and build a sense of optimism, shared identity, interpersonal skills and problem-solving in a social environment, with activities driven by service users. Written outcomes included a PPI-led booklet on running peer-led social groups, a person-centred telephone interview for the HoNOS questionnaire for use during the Covid-19 pandemic, peer reviewed papers, blogs and video logs. Conclusion(s): PPI was integral to the delivery of the EYE-2 study;the multi-level approach facilitated a diversity of voices across different aspects of the study and ensured that people with lived experience shaped the intervention, research design and implementation.

Post COVID-19's opportunities for customer-centric green supply chain management and customers' resilience, the moderate effect of corporate social responsibility

PurposeThis research aims to profoundly investigate the post-COVID-19's opportunities for customer-centric green supply chain management (GSCM) and perceived customer resilience by studying the correlation between fear-uncertainty of COVID-19, customer-centric GSCM, and the perceived customers' resilience. Moreover, to examine how the perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities moderates the relationship among the variables.Design/methodology/approachIn this study partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted on a sample of 298 managers and customers in the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) market for data analysis and hypotheses testing.FindingsPreliminary results indicate that the fear-uncertainty of COVID-19 positively affects customer-centric GSCM. Also, external CSR moderates the association between fear-uncertainty towards COVID-19 and customer-centric GSCM. However, internal CSR does not moderate this relationship. Customer-centric GSCM has a significant positive impact on the perceived environmental and social resilience. However, it has an insignificant effect on the perceived financial resilience. Also, customer-centric GSCM has a significant mediation outcome on the relation between fear-uncertainty of COVID-19 and the perceived environmental and social resilience. However, this relation is insignificant regarding the perceived financial resilience.Practical implicationsManagers could develop a consistent strategy for applying CSR practices, providing clear information and focusing on their procedures to meet their customer needs during COVID-19. Governments and managers should develop a consistent strategy to apply customer-oriented green practices to achieve customers' resilience, especially during the pandemic.Originality/valueBased on the "social-cognitive,” "stakeholder” and "consumer culture” theories, this study shed light on the optimistic side of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it also brings the concepts of social responsibility, resilience and green practices back into the light, which helps in solving customers' issues and help to achieve their resilience.

What can I be when I grow up? Parental support and career exploration among teenagers: The moderating role of dispositional optimism

The present study aimed to broaden the knowledge about the personal and parental factors associated with teenagers' efforts to actively engage in the developmental task of vocational preparation. We investigated the associations between parental career-related behaviors (i.e., parental support, interference, and lack of engagement), adolescents' career exploration, and the moderating role of dispositional optimism. Our sample was formed by 441 Romanian teenagers (58 % males, M = 14.17, SD = 1.05). The results suggested that ado-lescents experiencing a low level of parental support reported a low level of career exploration, regardless of the level of dispositional optimism. Conversely, when the level of parental support was high, participants reported a higher level of career exploration when they also reported a high level of dispositional optimism. We discuss the importance of examining individual characteristics in conjunction with ecological factors related to adolescents' environments when understanding career exploration.

COVID-19-induced academic stress and its impact on life satisfaction and optimism. A panel study of Swedish university students between 2020 and 2022

In this article, we analyse the level of and development in students' academic stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We devote particular attention to students that first entered university in 2020, ‘the COVID cohort', who had fewer opportunities to integrate in ways that theoretically should mitigate the impact of pandemic-induced disruption to their studies. Using four waves of data, collected 2020–2022, we find evidence of both pandemic and cohort effects among Swedish university students (N = 3138). During the pandemic's first year academic stress due to COVID-19 increased regardless of pre-pandemic university experience. The stress, in turn, negatively impacted students' life satisfaction, a factor theoretically linked to key student outcomes like persistence and academic performance but had limited effect on students' long-term optimism. The COVID cohort expressed higher levels of academic stress and experienced a greater drop in life satisfaction compared to the most senior students (3 years or more), but largely overlapped with students with some university experience (1–2 years). These group differences persisted in spring 2022. Finally, we found that the higher levels of pandemic-induced academic stress in the COVID cohort were mitigated by experiences that foster academic and social integration, specifically by teacher support and social cohesion. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Medical capacity investment for epidemic disease: The effects of policymaker's confidence and public trust.

Due to the server bed shortage, which has raised ethical dilemmas in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis, medical capacity investment has become a vital decision-making issue in the attempt to contain the epidemic. Furthermore, economic strength has failed to explain the significant performance difference across countries in combatting COVID-19. Unlike common diseases, epidemic diseases add substantial unpredictability, complexity, and uncertainty to decision-making. Knowledge miscalibration on epidemiological uncertainties by policymaker's over- and underconfidence can seriously impact policymaking. Ineffective risk communication may lead to conflicting and incoherent information transmission. As a result, public reactions and attitudes could be influenced by policymakers' confidence due to the level of public trust, which eventually affects the degree to which an epidemic spreads. To uncover the impacts of policymakers' confidence and public trust on the medical capacity investment, we establish epidemic diffusion models to characterize how transmission evolves with (and without) vaccination and frame the capacity investment problem as a newsvendor problem. Our results show that if the public fully trusts the public health experts, the policymaker's behavioral bias is always harmful, but its effect on cost increment is marginal. If a policymaker's behavior induces public reactions due to public trust, both the spread of the epidemic and the overall performance will be significantly affected, but such impacts are not always harmful. Decision bias may be beneficial when policymakers are pessimistic or highly overconfident. Having an opportunity to amend initially biased decisions can debias a particular topic but has a limited cost-saving effect.

Neuroanatomical signatures associated with dispositional optimism predict COVID-19-related posttraumatic stress symptoms.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been increasingly documented to cause negative impacts on mental health outcomes, e.g. posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Dispositional optimism ("optimism" hereinafter), a crucial psychological characteristic defined by positive expectancies for future outcomes, is considered to provide remarkable protection against PTSS. Accordingly, this study was designed to identify neuroanatomical signatures of optimism and further examine the mechanism through which optimism protects against COVID-19-specific PTSS. Here, 115 volunteers from a general population of university students completed MRI scans and optimism tests before (October 2019-January 2020) and after (February-April 2020) the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry analysis showed that a region from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) was associated with optimism. Further seed-based structural covariance network (SCN) analysis using partial least-squares correlation found an optimism-linked SCN covarying with the combined dACC and dmPFC (the dACC-dmPFC). Additionally, mediation analyses revealed that the dACC-dmPFC volume and its SCN impacted COVID-19-specific PTSS through optimism. Our findings deepen the understanding of optimism and have the potential to identify vulnerable individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic or similar future events, as well as to guide optimism-related neural interventions to prevent and alleviate PTSS.

How Did Reskilling During the COVID-19 Pandemic Relate to Entrepreneurship and Optimism? Barriers, Opportunities, and Implications for Equity.

With shorter durations and fewer barriers to entry, reskilling programs may serve as vehicles for social mobility and equity, as well as tools for creating a more adaptive workforce and inclusive economy. Nevertheless, much of the limited large-scale research on these types of programs was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, given the social and economic disruptions spurred by the pandemic, our ability to understand the impact of these types of programs in recent labor market conditions is limited. We fill this gap by leveraging three waves of a longitudinal household financial survey collected across all 50 US states during the pandemic. Through descriptive and inferential methods, we explore the sociodemographic characteristics related to reskilling and associated motivations, facilitators, and barriers, as well as the relationships between reskilling and measures of social mobility. We find that reskilling is positively related to entrepreneurship and, for Black respondents, to optimism. Moreover, we find that reskilling is not merely a tool for upward social mobility, but also economic stability. However, our results demonstrate that reskilling opportunities are stratified across race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status through both formal and informal mechanisms. We close with a discussion of implications for policy and practice.

Relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence, and academic resilience of nursing students: the mediating effect of self-directed learning competency.

Background: The evolution toward future education following the 4th industrial revolution and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have changed nursing education dramatically. Online classes have become a new paradigm of education, and are expected to develop and be maintained in various forms even after the end of COVID-19. Therefore, attention is focused on finding ways to improve learners' achievements in a distance learning environment. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of self-directed learning competency on the relationships between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience among nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was conducted using convenience sampling of 195 nursing students in South Korea. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, multiple regression, and mediation analysis using SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. Results: There were significant positive correlations among self-directed learning competency, optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience. The self-directed learning competency acts as a mediator in explaining relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides the evidence for the role of self-directed learning competency in the relationship between optimism, emotional intelligence and academic resilience in nursing students. Rapid changes in education are inevitable due to changes in clinical settings and the impact of repeated infectious disease outbreaks including the COVID-19 pandemic. This study suggests strengthening positive psychology and self-directed learning capability of nursing students as a strategy to prepare for changes in education and clinical areas.

Psychological Impact of E-Learning among Students: A Survey

Aim: This study is conducted to know the psychological impact of e learning among the students. Background(s): From the time of very first beginning of civilization to modern days before corona pandemic situation, most of the students of India are very much used to with the offline mode of learning. But now the situation is changed totally. They are getting themselves adapted to the online mode of learning as per need of time. In this changed scenario they are totally disconnected from their usual life with frames schools teachers and society. This situation wreaks havoc to their psychology. Methodology: This study is conducted with primary data in form of online survey. It was conducted with a pre formed questionnaire. 428 responses were collected for the present study. With advanced Excel software statistical analysis done. Outcome(s): Results show that students have shown negative impression on online learning and still they are not ready totally psychologically. Still positive answers show neck to neck result, which signifies increasing interest towards e learning. More practices and awareness required before further implementation.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

Optimism Bias as Moderator to Deal with Anxiety & Depression: Empirical Evidence from PLS – SEM Based Approach

The research aims at examining the influence of loneliness and stress on anxiety and depression. The role of optimism bias in regulating anxiety and depression dimensions among 726 students in India is investigated. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach is used to study the relationships between constructs. According to the data, optimism bias significantly moderates the association among stress and anxiety & between loneliness and anxiety. The research enables understanding of the consequences of Covid-19 upon the psychology of the students while providing an insight into the behavioural implications of loneliness, stress and optimism bias on the anxiety level and depression of students. The study enables the academicians and management in formulating communication and management strategies for students. Limited studies have been found on stress and depression in Indian student's context. It is the first study to employ an optimistic bias scale to investigate the behaviour of students in India and its impact on the students' mental health using anxiety and depression as variables. © The Author(s) 2023.

Structural equation model of coping and life satisfaction of community-dwelling older people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 put older individuals at high risk for morbidity and mortality, isolation, reduced coping, and lower satisfaction with life. Many older adults experienced social isolation, fear, and anxiety. We hypothesized that successful coping with these stressors would maintain or improve satisfaction with life, a crucial psychological outcome during the pandemic. Our study investigated relationships between older people's coping and life satisfaction during the pandemic and their optimism, sense of mastery, closeness with spouse, family, and friends, and vulnerabilities from frailty, comorbid diseases, memory problems, and dependencies in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). METHODS: The study was based on a special COVID-19 sample of 1351 community-dwelling older adults who participated in the 2020 Health and Retirement Survey. A comprehensive structural equation modeling was used to test direct and indirect effects, with life satisfaction as the main outcome and coping as a mediator between the other variables and coping. RESULTS: Most survey respondents were female and between the ages of 65-74 years. They averaged 1.7 chronic conditions, one in seven was frail, about one-third rated their memory as fair or poor, and about one in seven reported one or more difficulties in IADL. As hypothesized-older people with increased sense of mastery and optimism were better able to cope and had greater life satisfaction. In addition, close relationships with friends and with other family members besides the spouse/partner or children contributed to more successful coping, while the interpersonal closeness of all types contributed directly to greater life satisfaction. Finally, older people with more IADL limitations reported greater difficulty coping and lower life satisfaction, and those older people who were frail or had multiple comorbid diseases reported lower life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Optimism, sense of mastery and closeness with family/friends promotes coping and life satisfaction, whereas frailty and comorbidities make coping more challenging and lead to lower life satisfaction particularly during a pandemic. Our study improves on prior research because of its nationally representative sample and formal specification and testing of a comprehensive theoretical framework.

Effects of triple combination therapy on quality of life and psychosocial outcomes: A longitudinal study

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator triple combination therapy (TCT) is available to approximately 85% of the U.S. CF population. Clinical trials of TCT demonstrate numerous improvements in physical health and healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL), but fewstudies have examined the effects of TCTon mental health and psychosocial outcomes, and little is known about whether gains in HRQoL are sustained over time.We aimed to describe the HRQoL and psychosocial outcomes of people with CF (PwCF) initiating TCT and explored changes in these outcomes up to 1 year after starting TCT. Method(s): This longitudinal study enrolled PwCF aged 14 and older who were followed at a large, combined pediatric and adult CF center. Questionnaires were administered within 6 months of initiating TCT (baseline) and 3, 6, and 12 months later. Study self-report measures evaluated were HRQoL (Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised;CFQ-R), optimism, self-efficacy, medication-related beliefs (Medication Beliefs Questionnaire;MBQ), perceived social stigma of illness, and body image. Data were also collected from medical charts on measures of health and mental health screening. Four open-ended questionswere included at each timepoint to elicit qualitative data on experiences starting TCT. Longitudinal data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models for repeated measures. Result(s): Sixty-three adults and adolescents with CF completed the full set of surveys at baseline. Mean participant age was 30.0 +/- 14.2. Fifty-four percent identified as female, 43% as male, and 2% as nonbinary. Seventyfour percent had private insurance. Mean percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1pp) at baseline was 76.0 +/- 24.1%, and mean body mass index (BMI) was 22.9 +/- 3.1 kg/m2. At 12 months, mean FEV1pp was 80.8 +/- 21.9%, and mean BMI was 24.5 +/- 4.1 kg/m2. On standard measures used in CF mental health screening, mean baseline Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score was 3.4 +/- 3.5, and mean General Anxiety Disorder score was 3.4 +/- 3.7. Mean PHQ-9 (3.5 +/- 4.0) and GAD-7 (3.4 +/- 3.7) scores at 12 months were similar to baseline. We found no statistically significant differences between the survey time points in participants' physical, respiratory, or emotional functioning on the CFQ-R, but there was a significant change in social functioning ( p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant change over time in optimism or selfefficacy, but there was a significant difference in CF medication beliefs between the four survey time points ( p = 0.008 for MBQ Importance subscale), with a decrease in perceived importance from baseline to 12 months. Conclusion(s): Whereas lung function and BMI increased in our sample by 12 months, similar improvementswere not seen in standard mental health outcomes. There was no change over time in physical, respiratory, or emotional functioning, optimism, or self-efficacy. Only CFQ-R social functioning had changed by 12 months, perhaps reflecting decreased COVID-related social isolation. There was also a change in medicationrelated beliefs, with a decrease in perceived importance of taking CF medications at 12 months. Future directions include conducting qualitative analyses of open-ended questions and further examining data on social stigma, motivation to take medications, and body image, as well as examining relationships between outcome variables and baseline FEV1 and BMICopyright © 2022, European Cystic Fibrosis Society. All rights reserved

Is Real Hell Preferable to Imaginary Paradise?

Each chapter takes as its object of analysis either a pair (for example, Bayle and Malebranche, Leibniz and King, Voltaire and the Deists) or an individual (Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer) who participated in the tradition of theodicean thinking or its critique. Taking the present conditions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Uprisings in the spring and summer of 2020, and the conceptual framings of tracking-capitalism, ecological collapse, and civil war as his subject matter, he paints a pessimistic picture of the futureless futures and impersonal dominations of the contemporary globalized world. [...]to what extent was it even conceived as a real problem?" (29) Whereas optimists are only interested in the problem of evil in its relationship with good (or God), van der Lugt's value-oriented pessimists reject the necessity of alignment, instead taking reality as it is, discontent, dread, and all. Through King and Liebniz the reader is provided a foundation for Enlightenment optimism that adjusts the Augustinian thesis of responsibility. While King's contribution is given its due, van der Lugt defines optimism by Leibniz's foundation of modern theodicy in his assertion that "we live in 'the best of all possible worlds'" (69): that there is, at the very least, a justification of evil in the world in relation to the good—either through theodicy in that the evil serves the good, or through alignment in that the good outweighs the evil. [...]with the question of whether life is worth living, van der Lugt explains that "the deeper point [schopenhauer] is trying to make […] is that even if the goods of life vastly outweigh the evils, even so, this does nothing to justify existence" (348).

The Relationship between Economic Resilience, Age and Psychological Well-being with the Mediating Role of Optimism in COVID-19 epidemic in Small and MediumBusinesses

Background and aims: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between economic resilience, age and psychological well-being with the mediating role of optimism in COVID-19 epidemic in small and Medium businesses. Methods: The methodology was correlational using structural equations. To this end, 230 people with small businesses in Kerman were selected using purposeful non-random sampling method. They answered the questionnaires of economic resilience, optimism, and psychological well-being. The data were analyzed by path analysis using Amos and SPSS. Results: The findings showed that economic resilience not only directly affected psychological well-being, but it also indirectly affected people's psychological well-being in COVID-19 epidemic through influencing optimism. Moreover, it was found that age had an indirect effect on psychological well-being and the model had a good fit. Conclusion: According to the findings, it can be concluded that in the situation of COVID-19 epidemic, optimism plays a mediating role in the relationship between economic resilience, age and psychological well-being. © 2022 Iran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

THE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS OF SUSTAINABILITY OF SME IN THE V4 COUNTRIES

The aim of the paper was to define, quantify and compare the significant attributes of sustainability of SMEs in V4 countries. Within the empirical research, which analysed a sample of 1.398 respondents and took place in V4 countries, we examined the significant attributes of sustainability of SMEs that had been defined by a statement and the SMEs had taken their attitude to them. The validity of statistical hypotheses was proved by chi-square and Z-score. The outcomes of the research confirmed that SMEs quite intensely perceive the social significance of permanently sustainable business activities in this region. Not only do SMEs in V4 countries understand the concept of permanently sustainable growth in business activities, but they also intensely demonstrate their positive attitude to prefer more than the economic interests of their own companies, they feel the need to positively influence the social system and the environment as well. The importance of the impacts of business activities on the environment was confirmed by more than 80% of SMEs in V4 countries. SMEs had a positive perception of the permanent sustainability of their own companies with regard to a difficult period the research took place in (the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, tense international relationships, and high inflation). The average degree of business optimism measured by the ST5 statement was at the level of 80% in V4 countries, which may be valuated as a positive economic phenomenon. An interesting finding is the fact that the highest degree of positive perceiving the significant determinants of permanently sustainable growth in business activities was clearly shown by Hungarian SMEs, on the contrary, the lowest degree of it was shown by Czech SMEs. © Vilnius University, 2002-2023 © Brno University of Technology, 2002-2023 © University of Latvia, 2002-2023.

COVID-19 and spiritual well-being: implications for social work

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented health challenges across all strata in society throughout the world. During this time, spiritual care forms a vital component of holistic health management, especially in terms of coping, coming to terms with illness, sufferings, and ultimately death. Spiritual care deals with the provision of compassion and empathy during the time of heightened stress, distress, and anxiety. Spirituality refers to the individual's personal experience that provides a greater sense of inner peace, harmony, hopefulness, and compassion for others and oneself. The term "Spiritus” is a latin word which means "the breath,” that is the most vital element for life. Religiousness may focus on the personal attitude, emotions, and personality factors. Spirituality may encompass positive emotions- love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, trust, gratitude, and awe. Religion refers to the interpersonal and institutional aspects of religio-spirituality based on the doctrine, values, and traditions of a formal religious group. This paper seeks to highlight the role of spirituality in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic with use of social work throughout this process.

Mental distress of physicians in the outpatient care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: emotional and supportive human relations matter - Cross-sectional results of the VOICE-study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the course of self-reported mental distress and quality of life (QoL) of physicians, working in the outpatient care (POC). Outcomes were compared with a control group of physicians working in the inpatient care (PIC), throughout the Corona Virus Disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. The impact of risk and protective factors in terms of emotional and supportive human relations on mental distress and perceived QoL of POC were of primary interest. METHODS: Within the largest prospective, multi-center survey on mental health of health care workers (HCW), conducted during the first (T1) and second (T2) wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, we investigated the course of current burden (CB), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2) and QoL, cross-sectionally, in n = 848 POC (T1: n = 536, T2: n = 312). The primary outcomes were compared with an age- and gender-matchted control group of n = 458 PIC (T1: n = 262, T2: n = 196). COVID-19-, work-related, social risk and protective factors were examined. RESULTS: At T1, POC showed no significant differences with respect to CB, depression, anxiety, and QoL, after Bonferroni correction. Whereas at T2, POC exhibited higher scores of CB (Cohen´s d/ Cd = .934, p < .001), depression (Cd = 1.648, p < 001), anxiety (Cd = 1.745, p < .001), work-family conflict (Cd = 4.170, p < .001) and lower QoL (Cd = .891, p = .002) compared with PIC. Nearly all assessed parameters of burden increased from T1 to T2 within the cohort of POC (e.g. depression: CD = 1.580, p < .001). Risk factors for mental distress of POC throughout the pandemic were: increased work-family conflict (CB: ß = .254, p < .001, 95% CI: .23, .28; PHQ-2: ß = .139, p = .011, 95% CI: .09, .19; GAD-2: ß = .207, p < .001, 95% CI: .16, .26), worrying about the patients´ security (CB: ß = .144, p = .007, 95% CI: .07, .22; PHQ-2: ß = .150, p = .006, 95% CI: .00, .30), fear of triage situations (GAD-2: ß = .132, p = .010, 95% CI: -.04, .31) and burden through restricted social contact in spare time (CB: ß = .146, p = .003, 95% CI: .07, .22; PHQ-2: ß = .187, p < .001, 95% CI: .03, .34; GAD-2: ß = .156, p = .003, 95% CI: -.01, .32). Protective factors for mental distress and QoL were the perceived protection by local authorities (CB: ß = -.302, p < .001, 95% CI: -.39, -.22; PHQ-2: ß = -.190, p < . 001, 95% CI: -.36, -.02; GAD-2: ß = -.211, p < .001, 95% CI: -.40, -.03; QoL: ß = .273, p < .001, 95% CI: .18, .36), trust in colleagues (PHQ-2: ß = -.181, p < .001, 95% CI: -.34, -.02; GAD-2: ß = -.199, p < .001, 95% CI: -.37, -.02; QoL: ß = .124, p = .017, 95% CI: .04, .21) and social support (PHQ-2: ß = -.180, p < .001, 95% CI: -.22, -.14; GAD-2: ß = -.127, p = .014, 95% CI: -.17, -.08; QoL: ß = .211, p < .001, 95% CI: .19, .23). CONCLUSIONS: During the pandemic, the protective role of emotional and supportive human relations on the mental distress and quality of life of POC should be taken into account more thoroughly, both in practice and future research.

Predictors of resilience in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study comparing the first and second waves.

Few studies have investigated the effects of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on health professionals, especially nurses, from the point of view of the protective factors of mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the level of resilience in healthcare workers, to determine whether there were differences between two moments of the pandemic. Applying a longitudinal study, participants (N = 590) from healthcare workers completed surveys in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the second wave. Socio-demographic and psychosocial variables such as resilience, emotional intelligence, optimism, self-efficacy, anxiety, and depression are used. There were differences between the two waves in all protective and risk variables except anxiety. In the first wave, there were three socio-demographic and psychosocial variables that explained 67.1% of the variance in resilience. In the first wave, three sociodemographic and psychosocial variables explained 67.1% of the variance in resilience in healthcare professionals. The enhancement of specific protective variables in healthcare professionals exposed to situations of high emotional stress can minimise the negative impact of the situation and promote more resilient responses in this professional group as a result.