Posttraumatic growth levels of healthcare workers in two periods with different intensities of COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens health-care workers' (HCW) mental health and well-being. Although traumatic life events may result in psychiatric disorders, occasionally they give rise to positive changes, such as post-traumatic growth. Accordingly, the present study evaluated the traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression levels of HCWs and their post-traumatic growth levels during the pandemic. In addition, the study aimed to assess the changes in psychological outcomes during the pandemic. For this aim, the data were collected in two different periods. The first data-collection period was between May and July 2020, and the second period started in November 2020 and ended in January 2021. The sociodemographic data form, Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) were used to collect data. Sixty-six HCWs participated in the study. No significant differences appeared between the baseline scores and 6-month follow-up in the depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress levels of HCWs. Furthermore, the PTGI scores decreased significantly over time. Although the change in the psychological distress scores was not statistically significant, the depression and post-traumatic stress scores increased over time. Previous research specified an inverse-parabolic relationship between traumatic stress and PTGI. Our results support previous research; as the exposure to the stressors continues, individual traumatic stress levels increase, psychiatric disorders become frequent, and affirmative changes (like post-traumatic growth) decline.