%0 Journal Article
%T Longitudinal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stress and Occupational Well-Being of Mental Health Professionals: An International Study.
%A Kogan CS
%A Garcia-Pacheco JA
%A Rebello TJ
%A Montoya MI
%A Robles R
%A Khoury B
%A Kulygina M
%A Matsumoto C
%A Huang J
%A Medina-Mora ME
%A Gureje O
%A Stein DJ
%A Sharan P
%A Gaebel W
%A Kanba S
%A Andrews HF
%A Roberts MC
%A Pike KM
%A Zhao M
%A Ayuso-Mateos JL
%A Sadowska K
%A Maré K
%A Denny K
%A Reed GM
%J Int J Neuropsychopharmacol
%V 26
%N 10
%D 2023 10 19
%M 37531283
%F 5.678
%R 10.1093/ijnp/pyad046
%X Increased levels of occupational stress among health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic have been documented. Few studies have examined the effects of the pandemic on mental health professionals despite the heightened demand for their services.<BR>A multilingual, longitudinal, global survey was conducted at 3 time points during the pandemic among members of the World Health Organization's Global Clinical Practice Network. A total of 786 Global Clinical Practice Network members from 86 countries responded to surveys assessing occupational distress, well-being, and posttraumatic stress symptoms.<BR>On average, respondents' well-being deteriorated across time while their posttraumatic stress symptoms showed a modest improvement. Linear growth models indicated that being female, being younger, providing face-to-face health services to patients with COVID-19, having been a target of COVID-related violence, and living in a low- or middle-income country or a country with a higher COVID-19 death rate conveyed greater risk for poor well-being and higher level of stress symptoms over time. Growth mixed modeling identified trajectories of occupational well-being and stress symptoms. Most mental health professions demonstrated no impact to well-being; maintained moderate, nonclinical levels of stress symptoms; or showed improvements after an initial period of difficulty. However, some participant groups exhibited deteriorating well-being approaching the clinical threshold (25.8%) and persistently high and clinically significant levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (19.6%) over time.<BR>This study indicates that although most mental health professionals exhibited stable, positive well-being and low stress symptoms during the pandemic, a substantial minority of an already burdened global mental health workforce experienced persistently poor or deteriorating psychological status over the course of the pandemic.