Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada.
Can J Psychiatry. 2024 Feb;69(2):89-99. doi: 10.1177/07067437231187462. Epub 2023 Jul 14.
Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had widespread negative impacts on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs), there has been little research on psychological interventions during the pandemic for this population. The current study examines whether a brief coping-focused treatment intervention delivered in a virtual individual format would be associated with positive changes in Canadian HCWs' mental health during the pandemic.
Three hundred and thirty-three HCWs receiving the intervention at 3 large specialty tertiary care hospitals in Ontario, Canada, completed measures of anxiety, depression, perceived stress, work/social impairment, insomnia and fear of COVID-19. After completing treatment, HCWs rated their satisfaction with the treatment.
The intervention was associated with large effect size improvements in anxiety, depression, perceived stress, insomnia and fear of COVID-19, and moderate effect size improvements in work/social impairment. At treatment session 1, prior mental health diagnosis and treatment were both significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, and work/social impairment scores. Secondary analyses of data from one of the sites revealed that treatment-related changes in anxiety, depression, perceived stress and work/social impairment were independent of age, gender, occupational setting, profession and the presence of a previous mental health diagnosis or treatment, with the exception that nurses improved at a slightly greater rate than other professions in terms of work/social impairment. HCWs were highly satisfied with the treatment.
A large number of HCWs experiencing significant distress at baseline self-referred for assistance. Timely and flexible access to a brief virtual coping-focused intervention was associated with improvements in symptoms and impairment, and treatment response was largely unrelated to demographic or professional characteristics. Short-term psychological interventions for HCWs during a pandemic may have a highly positive impact given their association with improvement in various aspects of HCWs' mental health improvement.
尽管 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行对医护人员（HCWs）的心理健康产生了广泛的负面影响，但针对这一人群的大流行期间的心理干预措施研究甚少。本研究旨在探讨在虚拟个体模式下提供的简短应对焦点治疗干预措施是否会与加拿大 HCWs 在大流行期间的心理健康状况的积极变化相关。
在加拿大安大略省的 3 家大型专业三级保健医院中，共有 333 名接受干预的 HCWs 完成了焦虑、抑郁、感知压力、工作/社交障碍、失眠和对 COVID-19 的恐惧的测量。在完成治疗后，HCWs 对治疗的满意度进行了评价。
干预措施与焦虑、抑郁、感知压力、失眠和对 COVID-19 的恐惧的大效应量改善相关，与工作/社交障碍的中等效应量改善相关。在治疗第 1 次时，先前的心理健康诊断和治疗均与抑郁、焦虑和工作/社交障碍的评分显著相关。其中一个地点的数据的二次分析显示，焦虑、抑郁、感知压力和工作/社交障碍方面的治疗相关变化与年龄、性别、职业环境、职业以及先前的心理健康诊断或治疗的存在无关，但护士在工作/社交障碍方面的改善速度略高于其他职业。HCWs 对治疗非常满意。
大量基线时经历明显困扰的 HCWs 自我推荐寻求帮助。及时灵活地获得简短的虚拟应对焦点干预措施与症状和障碍的改善相关，治疗反应在很大程度上与人口统计学或职业特征无关。在大流行期间为 HCWs 提供短期心理干预可能会产生非常积极的影响，因为它与 HCWs 心理健康各个方面的改善相关。
