{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Longitudinal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stress and Occupational Well-Being of Mental Health Professionals: An International Study.
{Author}: Kogan CS;Garcia-Pacheco JA;Rebello TJ;Montoya MI;Robles R;Khoury B;Kulygina M;Matsumoto C;Huang J;Medina-Mora ME;Gureje O;Stein DJ;Sharan P;Gaebel W;Kanba S;Andrews HF;Roberts MC;Pike KM;Zhao M;Ayuso-Mateos JL;Sadowska K;Maré K;Denny K;Reed GM;
{Journal}: Int J Neuropsychopharmacol
{Volume}: 26
{Issue}: 10
{Year}: 2023 10 19
{Factor}: 5.678
{DOI}: 10.1093/ijnp/pyad046
{Abstract}: 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.
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.
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.
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.