Open AccessTrapped in the COVID-19 pandemic: The effect of risk concern and emotions on burnout among health care workers
Author(s) -
Inês C. Sousa,
Teresa Caldas de Almeida,
Catarina Correia Leal
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psicologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.142
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 2183-2471
pISSN - 0874-2049
DOI - 10.17575/psicologia.v35i1.1697
Subject(s) - burnout , affect (linguistics) , structural equation modeling , mediation , pandemic , health care , psychology , covid-19 , environmental health , social psychology , nursing , clinical psychology , medicine , political science , disease , statistics , mathematics , communication , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
The COVID-19 pandemic poses critical challenges for the health care workers (HCWs) around the world due to the increasing demands imposed on health care systems. This study aims to investigate how risk concern impacts burnout via positive and negative affect. Further, the moderating role of risk exposure (low, medium, and high) in this parallel mediation model is examined. A sample of 257 Portuguese HCWs answered a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was applied. Results showed that risk concern positively influences negative affect – but not positive affect – and, consequently, burnout. Contrary to our expectations, this indirect effect was not greater for individuals in the high-risk group (vs. low-risk group), which can be explained by individual and organizational factors' buffering role. These findings draw healthcare organizations' attention to the hazardous effects of risk concern on HCWs' well-being.