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

Authors

  • Dr Abia Nazim Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan.
  • Dr Tauqeer Nazim Assistant Professor, Department of Plastic Surgery, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5110-6839
  • Dr Ivan Suneel Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6496-179X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v3i2.80

Keywords:

COVID-19, Depression, Healthcare Professionals, Social Support, Stress

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.

References

Alnazy, E., Khraisat, O.M., Al-Bashaireh, A.M., & Bryant, C.L. (2021). Anxiety, depression, stress, fear and social support during COVID-19 pandemic among Jordanian healthcare workers. PloS ONE, 16 (3), e0247679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247679 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247679

Ambelu, A., Birhanu, Z., Yitayih, Y., Kebede, Y., Mecha, M., Abafita, J., Belay, A., & Fufa, D. (2021). Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: an online cross-sectional study to identify the need for equal attention of intervention. Annals of General Psychiatry, 20 (22). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-021-00344-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-021-00344-4

Beaufort, I.N., De Weert-Van, G.H., Buwalda, V.A.J., De-Leeuw, J.R.J., & Goudriaan, A.E. (2017). The depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) as a screener for depression in substance use disorder inpatients: A pilot study. European Addiction Research, 23, 260-268. https://doi:10.1159/000485182 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000485182

Bøen, H., Dalgard, O.S., & Bjertness, E. (2012). The importance of social support in the associations between psychological distress and somatic health problems and socio-economic factors among older adults living at home: a cross sectional study. BioMed Central Geriatrics, 2, 12-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-12-27

Dalgard, O.S., Dowrick, C., Lehtinen, V., & Vazquez-Barquero, J. S. (2006). Negative life events, social support and gender difference in depression- A multinational community survey with data from the ODIN study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41 (6), 444-451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0051-5

Garcia-Fernandez, L., Romero- Ferreiro,V., Padilla, S., Lopez-Roldan, P.D., Monzo-Garcia, M., & Rodriguez- Jimenez, R. (2021). Gender differences in emotional response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain. Brain and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1934 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1934

Grav, S., Hellzèn, O., Romild, U., & Stordal, E. (2012). Association between social support and depression in the general population: The HUNT study, a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21,111–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03868.x

Grey, I., Arora, T., Thomas, J., Saneh, A., Tohme, P., & Abi-Habib, R. (2020). The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 283, 113452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452

Guo, K., Zhang, X., Bai, S., Minhat, H.S., Nazan, A.I.N.M., Feng, J., Li, X., Luo, G., Zhang, X., Feng, J., Li, Y., Si, M., Qiao, Y., Ouyang, J., & Saliluddin, S. (2021). Assessing social support impact on depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate students in Shaanxi province during the COVID-19 pandemic of China. PLoS ONE, 16 (7), e0253891. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0253891 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253891

Hajure, M., Dibab, B., & Mohammedhussein, M. (2021). Psychological distress among healthcare workers in health facilities of Mettu town during COVID-19 outbreak, Southwest Ethiopia 2020. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 574671. https://doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.574571 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.574671

He, W., Chen, W., Li, X., Kung, S.S., Zeng, L., Peng, T., Wang, X., Ren, R., & Zhao, D. (2021). Investigating on the mental health status of the ICU practitioners and analysis of influencing factors during the stable stage of COVID-19 epidemic in China. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.572415 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.572415

Hou, T., Zhang, T., Cai, W., Song, X., Chen, A., Deng, G. (2020). Social support and mental health among health care workers during coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A moderated mediation model. PLoS ONE, 15:e0233831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233831 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233831

Ioannou, M., Kassianos, A.P., & Symeou, M. (2019). Coping with depressive symptoms in young adults: Perceived social support protects against depressive symptoms only under moderate levels. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02780. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02780

Kafle, K., Shresth, D.B., Baniya, A., Lamichhane, S., Shahi, M., & Gurung, B. (2021). Psychological distress among health services providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. PloS ONE, 16 (2):e0246784. https://doi.10.1371/journal.pone.0246784 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246784

Kaplan, J., Frias, L., & McFall-Johnsen, M. (2020). A third of the global population is on coronavirus lockdown - Here’s our constantly updated list of countries and restrictions. Available from https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-on-lockdowncoronavirus-italy-2020-3?IR=T.

Khan, A.J. (2017). Scope of medical colleges in private sector: Editorial. Journal of Ayub Medical College. https://ayubmed.edu.pk/JAMC/PAST/16-1/AJKhan.htm

Kocalevent, R.D., Berg, L., Beutel, M.E., Hinz, A., Zenger, M., Härter, M., Nater, U., & Brähler, E. (2018). Social support in the general population: Standardization of the Oslo social support scale (OSSS-3). BioMedical Central Psychology, 6 (31). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-018-0249-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-018-0249-9

Li, Z., Yi, X., Zhong, M., Li, Z., Xiang, W., Wu, S., & Xiong, Z. (2021). Psychological distress, social support, coping style, and perceived stress among medical staff and medical students in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.664808 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.664808

Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behavior Research and Therapy, 33, 335–343. https://doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-u DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-U

Oppenauer, C., Juliane, B., Kaiser, E., Riffer, F., & Sprung, M. (2021). Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with mental or physical diseases. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 703488. https://doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703488 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703488

Riaz, M., Abid, M., & Bano, Z. (2021). Psychological problems in general population during COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan: Role of cognitive emotion regulation. Annals of Medicine, 53 (1), 189-196. https://doi: 10.1080/07853890.2020.1853216 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2020.1853216

Reblin, M., & Uchino, B.N. (2008). Social and emotional support and its implications for health. Current Opinions in Psychiatry,21 (2), 201–205.doi: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e3282f3ad89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0b013e3282f3ad89

Rehman, U., Shahnawaz, M.G., Khan, N.H., Kharshiing, K.D., Khursheed, M., Gupta, K., Kashyap, D., & Uniyal, R. (2021). Depression, anxiety and stress among Indians in times of Covid 19 lockdown. Community Mental Health Journal, 57, 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00664-x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00664-x

Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80 (1),1 – 28.doi:10.1037/h0092976 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0092976

Shahbaz, S., Ashraf, M.Z., Zakar, R., & Fisher, F. (2021). Psychological, emotional and professional challenges faced by female healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak in Lahore, Pakistan: A qualitative study. BioMedical Central Women’s Health, 21 (197). http://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-201-01344-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01344-y

Shangguan, C., Zhang, L., Wang, Y., Wang, W., Shan, M., & Liu, F. (2022). Expressive flexibility and mental health: The mediating role of social support and gender differences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 456. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19010456 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010456

Turchioe, M.R., Grossman, L.V., Myers, A.C., Pathak, J., & Creber, R.M. (2021). Correlates of mental health symptoms among US adults during COVID-19, March–April 2020. Public Health Reports, 136 (1), 97-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354920970179

Viseu, J.N.R., De Jesus, S.N., & Leal, A.R.C. (2021). Coping and social support as moderators: Relationship between financial threat and negative psychological outcomes. Current Psychology, 40, 2229–2241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-0157-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-0157-z

Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., & Ho, C. (2020). Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (5),1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729

Yin, Y., Yang, Z., Gao, L., Zhang, S., Qi, M., Zhang, L., Tan, Y., & Chen, J. (2021). The association between social support, COVID exposure and medical student’s health. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.555893 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.555893

Downloads

Published

2022-06-30

How to Cite

Nazim , D. A. ., Nazim, D. T., & Suneel, D. I. (2022). Perceived Social Support and Psychological Distress among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19. Journal of Professional & Applied Psychology, 3(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.52053/jpap.v3i2.80