Perceived Social Support and Psychological Distress among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has brought an array of problems affecting people everywhere. Healthcare professionals were under immense work and emotional pressure since the advent of COVID-19 outbreak which exposed them to physical and psychological vulnerabilities. Current study was designed to investigate social support and psychological distress defined as depression, anxiety and stress in healthcare professionals serving during COVID-19. Sample comprised 321 healthcare professionals including male (n=57%) and female (n= 42%) professionals from various healthcare facilities. Majority of the participants had poor social support. Depression mean score (11.86, SD= 5.81) was in mild severity range, whereas mean score of anxiety (11.81, SD=5.76) indicated moderate severity. Mean score on stress (14.01, SD= 7.37) was towards the high side of the normal range. Data revealed gender differences in terms of mean scores on depression, anxiety, stress (p<0.05) and social support (p>0.05). Female healthcare professionals scored significantly lower (p<0.05) on all components of psychological distress namely depression, anxiety and stress than males. Those with high scores on any of the three dimensions of psychological distress also showed to have poor social support. Healthcare professionals noted to have experienced mild to moderate levels of psychological distress and showed differences in level of psychological distress based on relative exposure to patients, perceived social support and gender.