RT Journal Article
T1 Sense of Coherence and Psychological Distress among HealthcareWorkers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain
A1 Gómez Salgado, Juan
A1 Domínguez Salas, Sara
A1 Romero Martín, Macarena
A1 García Iglesias, Juan Jesús
A1 Ruiz Frutos, Carlos
AB The health crisis triggered by COVID-19 and the preventive measures taken to control ithave caused a strong psychological impact on the population, especially on healthcare professionals.Risk exposure, uncertainty about how to approach the disease, care and emotional overburden, lack ofresources, or unclear ever-changing protocols are, among others, psychological distress risk factorsfor the healthcare professionals who have faced this dramatic scenario on the front line. On the otherhand, the Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a competence that could help these professionals perceive thesituation as understandable, manageable, and meaningful, facilitating the activation of their resilience.This work aims to describe the levels of psychological distress and SOC of healthcare professionalsduring the crisis caused by COVID-19, the relationship between both variables, and their health status.A cross-sectional descriptive study with a sample of 1459 currently active healthcare workers wasdeveloped. GHQ-12 and SOC-13 were used for data collection. Bivariate analyses were performed,including Chi-Squared Test, Student’s T-Test, Analysis of Variance—ANOVA (with Bonferroni testfor multiple comparisons), and correlations. Cohen’s d or Cramer’s V effect size measurementswere also provided. The results showed that 80.6% of healthcare professionals had psychologicaldistress, and the mean score on the SOC-13 scale was 62.8 points (SD = 12.02). Both psychologicaldistress and SOC were related to the presence of COVID-19 symptoms, as well as with contact history.Professionals with psychological distress showed a lower SOC. Taking care of the mental health ofhealthcare professionals is essential to effectively cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Given thepsychological impact of working in the current menacing scenario, people on the front line againstthe disease should be protected, minimizing risks, providing them with resources and support,and fostering their coping skills.
PB MDPI
SN 2071-1050
YR 2020
FD 2020-08
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18796
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18796
LA eng
NO Gómez Salgado, J., Domínguez Salas, S., Romero Martín, ... Ruiz Frutos, C. (2020). Sense of Coherence and Psychological Distress Among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain. Sustainability, 12(17), 6855. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176855
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026