Mental Health Outcomes Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic in a Group of Health Care Professionals.

Analysis of health care workers' stress levels during the COVID-19 virus pandemic, and whether there is a relationship between health care workers' stress levels and mental health in the context of coping with stress. One hundred and seventy professionally active health care workers took part in the study: doctors (n=41), nurses (n=114) and paramedics (n = 15). On average, study subjects were 37 years old and had 14 years of work experience. The following were used in this questionnaire-based study: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Mini-COPE - Coping Inventory. The research group experienced high levels of stress. Nurses experienced the most acute stress. Increasing stress levels are accompanied by an intensification of psychopathological symptoms (insomnia and depression). Older individuals and those with more years worked at work experienced less psychopathological symptoms. Non-adaptive stress coping methods (e.g. use of psychoactive substances) resulted in deteriorating mental health within the research group. Habitual use of non-adaptive strategies may bring relief in the short term in the form of reduced negative consequences of stress transactions and facilitate mobilisation or just sufficient performance at work. However, in the longer term, it may lead to deteriorating health. The obtained data shows that positive reinterpretation, age and length of work track record constitute protective factors against deteriorating health.

Relationship between stress and alexithymia, emotional processing and negative/positive affect in medical staff working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a lasting effect on emotional well-being of healthcare workers. Medical personnel working at the time of the pandemic may experience elevated occupational stress due to the uncontrollability of the virus, high perceived risk of infection, poor understanding of the novel virus transmission routes and unavailability of effective antiviral agents. This study used path analysis to analyze the relationship between stress and alexithymia, emotional processing and negative/positive affect in healthcare workers. The sample included 167 nurses, 65 physicians and 53 paramedics. Sixty-two (21.75 %) respondents worked in COVID-19-designated hospitals. Respondents were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Processing Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The model showed excellent fit indices (χ2 (2)=2.642, p=0.267; CFI=0.999, RMSEA=0.034, SRMR=0.015). Multiple group path analysis demonstrated physicians differed from nurses and paramedics at the model level (X2diff (7)=14.155, p<0.05 and X2diff (7)=18.642, p<0.01, respectively). The relationship between alexithymia and emotional processing was stronger in nurses than in physicians (difference in beta=0.27; p<0.05). Individual path χ2 tests also revealed significantly different paths across these groups. The results of the study may be used to develop evidence-based intervention programs promoting healthcare workers' mental health and well-being.

Mediating Role of Stress at Work in the Relationship of Alexithymia and PTSD among Emergency Call Operators.

AIM: The main purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between alexithymia, stress at work, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in impact emergency call center operators working in Poland (province of Greater Poland). The risk of exposure to critical life events was also considered. METHODS: Data were collected using self-report questionnaires administered after dispatchers' shifts. The emergency call center operators (N = 66) completed the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Workplace Perceived Stress Questionnaire, and a questionnaire measuring the frequency and intensity of potentially traumatic events faced by emergency operators (a questionnaire developed by the authors). RESULTS: Twenty of the most frequent events (e.g., child sexual harassment, rape, etc.) were identified. Results indicated that post-traumatic stress positively correlated with (a) work-related stress and (b) one aspect of alexithymia: difficulty expressing feelings. Additionally, work-related stress was identified as a mediator for the relation between alexithymia and the intensity of post-traumatic stress. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm that emergency operators are a high-risk group for the development of PTSD. The study results suggest that performing the work of an emergency dispatcher is not only demanding but also inherently involves participation in potentially traumatic events (as encountered through emergency calls).

Dysfunctional Coping Mediates the Relationship between Stress and Mental Health in Health-Care Staff Working amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the stress outcomes in health-care staff working during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the role of coping in the relationship between stress outcomes and mental health dimensions with Preacher & Hayes's mediation analysis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred seventy participants including physicians (n = 41; 24.1%), nurses (n = 114, 67.1%), and paramedics (n = 15, 8.8%) with a mean age of 37.69 ± 12.23 years and an average seniority of 14.40 ± 12.32 years were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Emotional Processing Scale, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The data were analyzed by estimation of simple correlation coefficients and a Preacher and Hayes's mediation procedure. RESULTS: Participants reported elevated levels of stress (7-8 sten on the sten scale developed for the PSS-10 questionnaire). Statistically significant differences in the stress levels between nurses, paramedics, and physicians could not be determined. In contrast, significant association between mental health outcomes and the occupational category could not be found. CONCLUSION: Our observations support the assumption about a controlling role of coping in the relationship between work-related stress, alexithymia, emotional processing loneliness and positive/negative affect in medical staff working amid pandemic.

Psychosocial Predictors of Bruxism.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to investigate the psychosocial predictors of bruxism. The association of various psychosocial factors such as alexithymia, emotional processing, state and trait anxiety, and stress with awake bruxism was analysed. METHODS: The study involved 52 volunteers diagnosed with awake bruxism. The toolkit that was used included the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS), the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the State- and Trait-Anxiety Inventory (STAI), with independent individual psychological diagnoses being made for every patient. The results were statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24. RESULTS: The obtained data clearly show that psychological traits-both permanent dispositions (e.g., state anxiety and alexithymia) and temporary states (e.g., trait anxiety, emotional processing deficits, and psychological stress)-are significant determinants of awake bruxism. The percentage of explained variance indicates the presence of other factors as well. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial factors such as state anxiety and trait anxiety, alexithymia, and perceived stress are as important as somatic causes in the occurrence and maintenance of awake bruxism. The profile of the obtained data suggests the possibility of preventing or minimizing the symptoms of awake bruxism through properly constructed psychoprophylactic interactions.

[General and specific individual post-traumatic stress disorder-related mechanisms among paramedics]. / Specyficzne korelaty i ogólny mechanizm psychologiczny zespolu stresu pourazowego u ratowników medycznych.

BACKGROUND: Due to the nature of their work, paramedics face an increased risk of developing a post-traumatic stress disorder. The main goal of this research project was to point out specific correlates of post-traumatic stress. The authors decided to approach that issue from the perspective of emotional-cognitive deficits and resources, such as alexithymia, rumination and coping with stress. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors conducted 3 independent research projects in the first half of the year 2017 in the Wielkopolskie voivodship, that included paramedics. In each one of them, they estimated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms using The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Additionally, in the first study the authors used alexthymia scale, Polish verion of Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), in the second - rumination questionnaire, in the third - coping with stress measured with Inventory for Measuring Coping with Stress Mini-COPE. RESULTS: The analyses demonstrate a relationship between PTSD symptoms and both alexithymia and rumination. There was not any significant relationship between coping strategies and PTSD. The mediation analysis results prove the role of intrusion as a mediator in a relationship between hyperarousal and avoidance. Individuals with PTSD demonstrate high avoidance for situations similar to the original traumatic event because high hyperarousal increases the risk of intrusion. CONCLUSIONS: More than a half of paramedics demonstrated post-traumatic stress symptoms, which most likely is a prognosis factor for future development of PTSD among them. The emotional-cognitive deficits correlated with traumatic stress symptoms. Resources such as coping strategies were not sufficient enough mechanisms for coping with traumatic stress. Post-traumatic stress disorder may be seen as a dynamic sequence. The nature of paramedics work entails the risk for experiencing complex and/or secondary trauma, which represent the phenomena that should be further examined. Med Pr. 2019;70(1):53-66.