Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study
BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak played a significant psychological impact on nurses, as they coped with intense emotional and cognitive demands, in a context in which the Health System was not prepared to face the emergency. Literature showed that pandemics influenced the nurses' stress and psy...
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AIMS Press
2024-10-01
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| Series: | AIMS Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024055 |
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| author | Ilenia Piras Vanessa Usai Paolo Contu Maura Galletta |
| author_facet | Ilenia Piras Vanessa Usai Paolo Contu Maura Galletta |
| author_sort | Ilenia Piras |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak played a significant psychological impact on nurses, as they coped with intense emotional and cognitive demands, in a context in which the Health System was not prepared to face the emergency. Literature showed that pandemics influenced the nurses' stress and psychosocial health due to poor rest, high work overloads, a lack of control over the patient flows, and a frequent isolation from family. Under these circumstances, nurses experienced severe psychological and mental stressors that generated mental health problems. Recent literature showed that coping strategies, especially those that were positive, promoted mental health in workers and helped them to face stressors.ObjectiveThe study aimed to investigate the relationship between vicarious traumas and the impact of traumatic events on nurses' mental health. In addition, we analyzed the role of coping strategies in moderating the effect of vicarious traumas on mental health.MethodsThe study was performed in November 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A self-reported structured questionnaire was administered via an online method to reduce face-to-face contact. Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the relationship between both vicarious traumas and the impact of traumatic events impact and mental health. An interaction analysis with the PROCESS macro was performed to analyze the role of coping strategies in moderating the relationship between vicarious traumas and mental health.ResultsA total of 183 nurses answered to the questionnaire. A moderation analysis showed that positive coping strategies such as physical activity, reading/music, and yoga/meditation showed to be protective in reducing the effect of vicarious traumas on the nurses' mental health problems. Conversely, negative coping strategies strengthened that relationship and may compromise their quality of working life.ConclusionThese findings provide further support for considering positive coping strategies as an important resource to alleviate psychological distress, thus helping the professional to reduce the negative effects of stress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-38a770087015462e9a90a65bda8d926c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2327-8994 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | AIMS Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AIMS Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-38a770087015462e9a90a65bda8d926c2025-01-24T01:32:41ZengAIMS PressAIMS Public Health2327-89942024-10-011141071108110.3934/publichealth.2024055Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory studyIlenia Piras0Vanessa Usai1Paolo Contu2Maura Galletta3Clinical Trials Sector, Medical Directorate, Microcythemia Hospital “A. Cao”, ASL Cagliari, ItalyIntensive Care Unit, Santissima Trinità Hospital, ASL Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, SS554 Bivio Per Sestu, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, ItalyDepartment of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, SS554 Bivio Per Sestu, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, ItalyBackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak played a significant psychological impact on nurses, as they coped with intense emotional and cognitive demands, in a context in which the Health System was not prepared to face the emergency. Literature showed that pandemics influenced the nurses' stress and psychosocial health due to poor rest, high work overloads, a lack of control over the patient flows, and a frequent isolation from family. Under these circumstances, nurses experienced severe psychological and mental stressors that generated mental health problems. Recent literature showed that coping strategies, especially those that were positive, promoted mental health in workers and helped them to face stressors.ObjectiveThe study aimed to investigate the relationship between vicarious traumas and the impact of traumatic events on nurses' mental health. In addition, we analyzed the role of coping strategies in moderating the effect of vicarious traumas on mental health.MethodsThe study was performed in November 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A self-reported structured questionnaire was administered via an online method to reduce face-to-face contact. Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the relationship between both vicarious traumas and the impact of traumatic events impact and mental health. An interaction analysis with the PROCESS macro was performed to analyze the role of coping strategies in moderating the relationship between vicarious traumas and mental health.ResultsA total of 183 nurses answered to the questionnaire. A moderation analysis showed that positive coping strategies such as physical activity, reading/music, and yoga/meditation showed to be protective in reducing the effect of vicarious traumas on the nurses' mental health problems. Conversely, negative coping strategies strengthened that relationship and may compromise their quality of working life.ConclusionThese findings provide further support for considering positive coping strategies as an important resource to alleviate psychological distress, thus helping the professional to reduce the negative effects of stress.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024055vicarious traumaimpact eventmental disorderscross-sectional studycovid-19moderating rolecoping strategies |
| spellingShingle | Ilenia Piras Vanessa Usai Paolo Contu Maura Galletta Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study AIMS Public Health vicarious trauma impact event mental disorders cross-sectional study covid-19 moderating role coping strategies |
| title | Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study |
| title_full | Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study |
| title_fullStr | Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study |
| title_short | Vicarious trauma, coping strategies and nurses' health outcomes: An exploratory study |
| title_sort | vicarious trauma coping strategies and nurses health outcomes an exploratory study |
| topic | vicarious trauma impact event mental disorders cross-sectional study covid-19 moderating role coping strategies |
| url | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/publichealth.2024055 |
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