Coping strategies used by health-care workers during the SARS-COV2 crisis. A real-world analysis

Bárbara Buch-Vicente¹, José María Acosta-Rodriguez², María Elena Sanchez-Sanchez³, Nerea González-García⁴, LLanira Garcia-Ullan⁵, Javier Ignacio de la Iglesia-Larrad⁵, Ángel Luis Montejo⁶, Carlos Roncero⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; School of Psychology, University of Salamanca, Spain.
² Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain. Electronic address: id00586759@usal.es.
³ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain.
⁴ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Department of Statistics, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁵ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; Psychiatric Unit, School of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁶ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; School of Nursing, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁷ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain.

PMID: 37732860
PMCID: PMC9575550
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114915

Coping strategies used by health-care workers during the SARS-COV2 crisis. A real-world analysis

Bárbara Buch-Vicente et al. Psychiatry Res. 2022 Nov.

. 2022 Nov:317:114915.

doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114915. Epub 2022 Oct 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; School of Psychology, University of Salamanca, Spain.
² Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain. Electronic address: id00586759@usal.es.
³ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain.
⁴ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Department of Statistics, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁵ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; Psychiatric Unit, School of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁶ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; School of Nursing, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁷ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Avda Portugal 83, Salamanca 37001, Spain; Psychiatric Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain.

PMID: 37732860
PMCID: PMC9575550
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114915

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the main coping strategies used by frontline teams during the first days of the COVID pandemic confinement in Spain. This information could be necessary in order to carry out training programs that allow a better handling of future emergency situations, as well as acting more effectively and with less negative emotional impact. A questionnaire was used to identify different psychological profiles for coping, and in turn, other relevant variables were analyzed. The most used strategies by health professionals were problem solving, desiderative thinking and social support. Emotional expression and social support were used more by women. Significantly different behaviors were found in desiderative thinking (lower in people of 35-50 years old, and social support, higher in people 35 years old). The symptoms most commonly experienced by medical personnel were: sleep disorders, anxiety, tension, depressive symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms and general somatic muscular symptoms. A relationship could be determined between the age/gender of the workers and the participants' overall assessment of their ability to cope with the COVID-19 stress situation they had experienced (men 50 years old and women between 35 and 50 years old, who felt able or very able to cope with the stress caused by the health emergency. However, women <35 years old and >50 years old believed they were able to cope poorly with the circumstances. The advantage of specific training plans in order to help with some stress symptoms could be suggested, aimed at the acquisition of tools based on problem solving, and emotional management in stressful and emergency situations.

Keywords: Clinical psychopathology; Ecology; Psychiatry & mental health; Psychotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Working conditions among medical personnel.

**Fig. 2**
AFC graphical representation of the variable categories: Global CSI ("I consider myself capable of coping") (red) vs Gender/Age (blue).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Coping strategies used by health-care workers during the SARS-COV2 crisis. A real-world analysis

Affiliations

Coping strategies used by health-care workers during the SARS-COV2 crisis. A real-world analysis

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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References

MeSH terms

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LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous