Mogwitz Sabine, Wintermann Gloria-Beatrice, Albus Christian, Baranowski Andreas M, Beschoner Petra, Erim Yesim, Geiser Franziska, Jerg-Bretzke Lucia, Morawa Eva, Steudte-Schmiedgen Susann, Weidner Kerstin
Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, Dresden, 01307, Germany.
Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty and University Hospital, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
BMC Psychiatry. 2025 May 6;25(1):456. doi: 10.1186/s12888-025-06867-4.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. For healthcare workers (HCW), an increased prevalence of mental distress and the impact of various resources have been identified. Psychotherapists specialise in helping people cope with stressful life events. At the same time, they are susceptible to mental distress, resulting from their work. Data on symptoms of depression and the role of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic are scarce for psychotherapists. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the course of self-reported depression of psychotherapists throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the impact of resources on depression was evaluated.
We investigated symptoms of depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) at four time points (T1-T4) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The PHQ-2 scores and resources such as sense of coherence (SOC), general optimism and social support (ESSI-D) of the psychotherapists (N = 1733) were compared with those of a comparison sample of HCW (N = 8470). The impact of resources on PHQ-2 scores was examined using cross-sectional linear modelling and longitudinal linear mixed modelling with interactions and lagged predictors.
At T1-T4, psychotherapists showed lower mean PHQ-2 scores than the comparison sample (p < 0.001). Among psychotherapists, the PHQ-2 scores increased (T1-T2, and T1-T4, p < 0.050). Cross-sectionally, higher SOC was associated with lower PHQ-2 scores (p < 0.001), with the protective influence weakening over time (p = 0.033). Longitudinal analyses confirmed a protective effect of sense of coherence (stable over time) and general optimism (declining over time) on PHQ-2 scores. An exploratory lagged-predictor analysis suggested that higher social support was associated with lower PHQ-2 scores, whereas higher general optimism was linked to increasing PHQ-2 scores.
This study revealed lower levels of depression among psychotherapists compared with the comparison sample throughout the pandemic. Concurrently, the resource levels were mostly comparable and stable, with a protective impact of the sense of coherence (stable) and optimism (decreasing) and an association of high social support with low depression throughout the pandemic. Strengthening the sense of coherence and social support should be the focus of professional and policy attention to improve the ability of psychotherapists to cope with future crises.
新冠疫情给全球医疗系统带来了挑战。对于医护人员而言，已发现心理困扰的患病率有所上升以及各种资源的影响。心理治疗师专门帮助人们应对生活中的压力事件。与此同时，他们也容易因工作而产生心理困扰。关于心理治疗师在新冠疫情期间的抑郁症状及资源作用的数据较为匮乏。因此，本研究旨在评估心理治疗师在整个新冠疫情期间自我报告的抑郁病程。此外，还评估了资源对抑郁的影响。
我们在德国新冠疫情期间的四个时间点（T1 - T4）使用患者健康问卷 - 2（PHQ - 2）调查抑郁症状。将心理治疗师（N = 1733）的PHQ - 2得分及诸如连贯感（SOC）、总体乐观情绪和社会支持（ESSI - D）等资源与医护人员对照样本（N = 8470）进行比较。使用横断面线性模型以及带有交互作用和滞后预测变量的纵向线性混合模型来检验资源对PHQ - 2得分的影响。
在T1 - T4期间，心理治疗师的平均PHQ - 2得分低于对照样本（p < 0.001）。在心理治疗师中，PHQ - 2得分有所上升（T1 - T2以及T1 - T4，p < 0.050）。横断面分析显示，较高的连贯感与较低的PHQ - 2得分相关（p < 0.001），且这种保护作用随时间减弱（p = 0.033）。纵向分析证实了连贯感（随时间稳定）和总体乐观情绪（随时间下降）对PHQ - 2得分具有保护作用。一项探索性的滞后预测变量分析表明，较高的社会支持与较低的PHQ - 2得分相关，而较高的总体乐观情绪则与PHQ - 2得分上升相关。
本研究揭示，在整个疫情期间，与对照样本相比，心理治疗师的抑郁水平较低。同时，资源水平大多具有可比性且稳定，连贯感（稳定）和乐观情绪（下降）具有保护作用，且在整个疫情期间，高社会支持与低抑郁相关。加强连贯感和社会支持应成为专业和政策关注的重点，以提高心理治疗师应对未来危机的能力。
