Relation of anxiety and hopelessness levels of healthcare employees with personality traits during Covid-19 period

Abstract

Aim: Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infection that began in Wuhan province in China, and spread to many countries around the world. A limited number of studies were conducted in the literature to evaluate the mental health of healthcare employees during the COVID-19 period. The purpose was to evaluate the relation of the anxiety and hopelessness levels caused by COVID-19 pandemia period with personality traits of healthcare employees. Material and Methods: A total of 451 people participated in our study; including 221 healthcare employees and 230 non-medical community sampling. All participants filled the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Revised Eysenck Personality Survey-Shortened Form (EPS-RCF). Results: All the subscale scores of CAS and BHS were found to be high in healthcare employees. The EPS-RCF Neurotism subscale was also found to be high in healthcare employees. During the COVID-19 period, the anxiety and hopelessness levels of healthcare employees were found to be higher than non-medical community sampling. It was also found that the personality trait of Neurotism was dominant in healthcare employees, and that personality traits were associated with both anxiety and hopelessness levels. Conclusion: Our findings are very important for healthcare employees all over the world to reduce their anxiety, to increase future expectations, motivations and hopes for the future, and to be spiritually good during this pandemia period.