Nurses' Attitudes Toward Psychiatric Help for Depression: The Serial Mediation Effect of Self-Stigma and Depression on Public Stigma and Attitudes Toward Psychiatric Help.

Eunmi Lee,Yoo Jeong,Su Yi

doi:10.3390/ijerph17145073

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of self-stigma and depression on the public stigma and nurses’ attitudes toward psychiatric help. A cross-sectional study with 184 nurses at one general hospital in South Korea was conducted employing a self-administered survey, using the Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II Scale, and the modified Depression Stigma Scale. A multiple-mediation analysis procedure was applied to analyze the data. Each indirect effect of self-stigma (B = −0.0974, bootLLCI, bootULCI: −0.1742, −0.0436) and depression (B = −0.0471, bootLLCI, bootULCI: −0.1014, −0.0060) is statistically significant in the relationship between public stigma and attitudes toward psychiatric help. The individualized intervention for enhancing positive attitude or motivation for seeking help at the personal level of the nurse and depression tests—including regular physical health check-ups—is necessary.

Highlights

Nursing is a stressful and demanding profession which, inevitably and subsequently leads to high levels of work-related stress and a high rate of turnover, worldwide [1]
Registered nurses suffer from depression at almost twice the rate of individuals working in other professions [3]
As nurses are the first point of contact most patients have in a clinic setting, and given that nurses comprise the highest percentage (68%) of health workers in Korea, their role is directly linked to the quality of medical service provided and received [4,5]

Summary

Introduction

Nursing is a stressful and demanding profession which, inevitably and subsequently leads to high levels of work-related stress and a high rate of turnover, worldwide [1]. The emergence of integrated nursing care service systems for dealing with new and complicated diseases have increased nurses’ work-related stress levels [2]. The greatest concern to the nursing profession is that depressed workers often exhibit low mood, have difficulty with concentration, and are accident prone. They are significantly more limited in their ability to perform mental or interpersonal tasks, have worse time management skills, and have lower total work output than non-depressed workers. As nurses provide health care services to patients for nearly 24 h a day, their mental health condition related to the quality of health care, but to

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