Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of the general population, and for healthcare workers (HCWs) it has been no different. Religiosity and spirituality are known coping strategies for mental illnesses, especially in stressful times. This study aimed to describe the role of spiritual-religious coping regarding fear and anxiety in relation to COVID-19 in HCWs in Portugal. A cross-sectional quantitative online survey was performed. Socio-demographic and health data were collected as well as the Duke University Religion Index, Spirituality Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. Two hundred and twenty-two HCWs participated in the study, 74.3% were female and 81.1% were physicians. The median age was 37 years (Q1, Q3: 31, 51.3). Religiosity was neither a significant factor for coronavirus-related anxiety nor it was for fear of COVID-19. Participants with higher levels in the hope/optimism dimension of the Spirituality Scale showed less coronavirus-related anxiety. Female HCWs, non-physicians, and the ones with a previous history of anxiety presented higher levels of fear and/or anxiety related to COVID-19. HCWs’ levels of distress should be identified and reduced, so their work is not impaired.
Highlights
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on11 March 2020 [1], the world lives an unprecedented scenario, where one acute disease brought disruption in several aspects of the society, such as health, economy, social security, environment, among others [2]
In the present sample of Portuguese healthcare employees, with similar levels of religiosity and spirituality between physicians and non-physicians, and contrary to expectations, it was observed that religiosity was neither a significant factor for coronavirus-related anxiety nor it was for fear of COVID-19
The inconsistency of the present results regarding previous studies may be due to the fact that since healthcare workers continued to perform their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic [40,41]
Summary
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on11 March 2020 [1], the world lives an unprecedented scenario, where one acute disease brought disruption in several aspects of the society, such as health (physical and mental), economy, social security, environment, among others [2]. It is recognized that the aforementioned pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of the general population [5]. For healthcare workers, it was not different. In China, a cross-sectional study of 1257 hospital workers exposed to COVID-19, demonstrated that symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress were common, especially in front-line female nurses [6]. These results were further supported by very
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