Health Professionals in a COVID-19 Reference Hospital: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Levels and Their Associations With Psychological Resilience and Quality of Life.

Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the quality of life of both the general population and health professionals and has increased the levels of psychopathology among them. The present study aims to map the levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological resilience, and quality of life of healthcare professionals who work in a COVID-19 reference hospital in Athens, Greece, one year after the onset of the pandemic. Also, this study focuses on investigating the relationships among the study variables and demographics and examining possible mediating effects. Methods The sample consisted of 400 health professionals from Sotiria Hospital, of whom 102 were men. Participants were asked to complete the Post-Traumatic Stress Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire. The survey was conducted from May to July 2021. Results The findings show statistical differences in resilience levels regarding marital status and employee education. Also, 13.5% of the staff reported significant PTSD levels, which relate to low levels of psychological resilience and every pillar of quality of life. Conclusions Thus, research findings indicate that resilience levels could have a protective effect on the development of PTSD symptoms. Therefore, the design of group interventions that aim at building health workers' resilience will be discussed.

Study of the Association of Insecure Attachment With the Dehumanization and Self-Dehumanization of Patients Hospitalized With Psychotic Disorder and Organic Disease.

Introduction Dehumanization is the phenomenon that concerns the non-attribution of humanness to other human beings and has two dimensions, animalistic and mechanistic. The aim of the present study is to study dehumanization and self-dehumanization in patients with psychosis and organic disease. Methods The sample consisted of 200 people who were hospitalized in Athens, Greece, in 2017. Participants were asked to answer the dehumanization questionnaire, the mechanistic self-dehumanization scale, the human nature and human uniqueness characteristics questionnaire, and the adult attachment questionnaire.  Results It was found that patients with organic disease and patients with psychosis do not perform mechanistic and animalistic dehumanization of themselves. Still, it seems that insecure attachment (anxiety and obsession) contributes positively to their mechanistic dehumanization and negatively to their mechanistic self-dehumanization. From the insecure attachment, only the dimensions of stress and obsession affect the mechanistic dehumanization.  Conclusions It is important to take measures to train specialists in the hospital so that they can establish a safe therapeutic relationship with the patient so that patients will not resort to dehumanization and self-dehumanization as a defense against the stress of hospitalization.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Aggression and Adult Attachment in Healthcare Professionals.

Introduction Multiple references to the violent and especially difficult patient have been presented by the international literature. However, there is little literature on the aggressive behaviors of health professionals in their workplaces. The aim of this research is to record and correlate aggression and attachment type data of adult health professionals. Methods The sample includes 192 individuals (43 men and 149 women) health professionals in the private and public sector, aged 20 to 60 years, who were selected by the method of random sampling. The survey was conducted from February 2018 to May 2018. The Greek version of the Aggression Questionnaire and the Greek version of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (G-ECR-R) self-report inventory were used and the analysis was performed with the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS 26) (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results The analysis shows that the dimension of avoidance has a positive correlation with hostility and physical aggression and the dimension of stress has a positive correlation with anger, physical aggression and hostility. It also seems that the stress dimension of the adult attachment contributes significantly positively to the prediction of anger and the stress dimension contributes significantly to the prediction of hostility. The dimension of avoiding adult attachment contributes significantly to the prediction of physical aggression. Conclusions To our knowledge, no studies were found in the literature to examine the relationship between the subscales of aggression and dimensions of attachment. It is important that violence in the workplace is recognized as an underlying occupational risk and not just as a matter of criminal law. Finally, more research is needed to study the phenomenon in order to make it more understandable.

The Effect of Personality Traits on the Quality of Life of Health Professionals in COVID-19 Reference Hospital.

Introduction and objectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the quality of life of both general population and the healthcare workers and has increased the psychopathology levels. The objective of this research was to study the personality traits and the quality of life of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to organize and apply interventions for the well-being of the staff. Materials and methods The study sample consisted of 400 healthcare workers, in Thoracic Diseases General Hospital "Sotiria". Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic information and to complete: (1) the WHOQOL-BREF, (2) the NEO-FFI. The questionnaire was administered in person to the hospital staff. The data were collected between May and July 2021, in Athens, Greece. Results Younger healthcare professionals had a better quality of life and with regard to gender differences, males reported higher scores of physical and psychological health compared to females. Also regarding personality traits, neuroticism and extroversion have a statistically significant effect on the quality of life. In contrast, education level, work area and specialty did not appear to affect the quality of life of hospital staff. Conclusions From our research findings, it appears that quality of life has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions are needed to apply mindfulness, increase well-being and form groups with the hospital staff in order to share their experiences.

Dehumanization of Hospitalized Patients and Self-Dehumanization by Health Professionals and the General Population in Greece.

Introduction Dehumanization is defined as the denial to people of their humanness. It is distinguished into animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization. The aim of this study is to examine whether professionals in a public hospital dehumanize the patient and self-dehumanize. Methods We used the Dehumanization Questionnaire, the Mechanistic Self-Dehumanization Scale, the Human Nature and Human Uniqueness Characteristics Questionnaire, the General Causality Orientation Scale and the Adult Attachment Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 135 mental health professionals (20 from a general hospital and 115 from a psychiatric hospital), 134 other health professionals from the general hospital and 84 people from the general population. Results  Health professionals dehumanize the hospitalized patient more than the general population. The secure attachment acts protectively on self-dehumanization and negatively on the dehumanization of the hospitalized patient. Finally, autonomous people are not self-dehumanized. Conclusions Our findings indicate that measures should be taken for health professionals so that they do not dehumanize the patient.