Sun Xiaoxiao, Xie Fei, Chen Beijing, Shi Peixia, Shen Sitong, Chen Zhaohua, Yuan Yuan, Zhang Mengjia, Qin Xuemei, Liu Yingzhe, Wang Yuan, Dai Qin
Department of Nursing Psychology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.
The First Affiliated Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 23;12:567446. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.567446. eCollection 2021.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), declared as a major public health emergency, has had profound effects on public mental health especially emotional status. Due to professional requirements, medical staff are at a higher risk of infection, which might induce stronger negative emotions. This study aims to reveal the emotional status of Chinese frontline medical staff in the early epidemic period to better maintain their mental health, and provide adequate psychological support for them. A national online survey was carried out in China at the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic. In total, 3025 Chinese frontline medical staff took part in this investigation which utilized a general information questionnaire, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ). At the early stage of COVID-19, anxiety was the most common negative emotion of Chinese medical staff, followed by sadness, fear, and anger, mainly at a mild degree, which declined gradually over time. Nurses had the highest level of negative emotions compared with doctors and other healthcare workers. Women experienced more fear than men, younger and unmarried medical staff had more anxiety and fear compared with elders and married ones. Risk perception and emotional expressivity increased negative emotions, cognitive reappraisal reduced negative emotions, while negative emotions led to more avoidant behavior and more physical health disturbances, in which negative emotions mediated the effect of risk perception on avoidant behavior tendency in the model test. Chinese frontline medical staff experienced a mild level of negative emotions at the early stage of COVID-19, which decreased gradually over time. The findings suggest that during the epidemic, nurses' mental health should be extensively attended to, as well as women, younger, and unmarried medical staff. To better ensure their mental health, reducing risk perception and improving cognitive reappraisal might be important, which are potentially valuable to form targeted psychological interventions and emotional guidance under crisis in the future.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情被宣布为重大突发公共卫生事件，对公众心理健康尤其是情绪状态产生了深远影响。由于职业要求，医护人员面临更高的感染风险，这可能引发更强烈的负面情绪。本研究旨在揭示中国一线医护人员在疫情早期的情绪状态，以更好地维护他们的心理健康，并为他们提供充分的心理支持。在COVID-19疫情早期，在中国开展了一项全国性在线调查。共有3025名中国一线医护人员参与了这项调查，该调查使用了一份一般信息问卷、情绪调节问卷（ERQ）和伯克利表现力问卷（BEQ）。在COVID-19早期，焦虑是中国医护人员最常见的负面情绪，其次是悲伤、恐惧和愤怒，主要为轻度，且随时间逐渐下降。与医生和其他医护人员相比，护士的负面情绪水平最高。女性比男性经历更多恐惧，年轻和未婚医护人员比年长和已婚医护人员有更多焦虑和恐惧。风险感知和情绪表达增加负面情绪，认知重评减少负面情绪，而负面情绪导致更多回避行为和更多身体健康困扰，在模型测试中，负面情绪在风险感知对回避行为倾向的影响中起中介作用。中国一线医护人员在COVID-19早期经历了轻度负面情绪，且随时间逐渐下降。研究结果表明，在疫情期间，应广泛关注护士以及女性、年轻和未婚医护人员的心理健康。为更好地确保他们的心理健康，降低风险感知和改善认知重评可能很重要，这对未来在危机情况下形成有针对性的心理干预和情绪指导具有潜在价值。
