Family support, anger and aggression in health workers during the first wave of the pandemic

Abstract

<abstract><sec> <title>Introduction</title> <p>Anger is considered as one of the basic human emotions, constituting the affective component of aggression. In the first year of the pandemic, the intense pressure on healthcare workers resulted in the deterioration of their psychosocial problems.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Objective</title> <p>The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between family support, anger, and aggression.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Methods</title> <p>The present study included physicians and nurses who completed an online survey of Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5), a Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ) and a Family Support Scale (FSS). Before completing the questionnaires, participants were asked to state their gender, years of work, age, and profession.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>Fifty-three men and 190 women participated in the study. Almost one-third of the participants had a positive score on the DAR-5 scale. Male participants displayed lower DAR-5 scores compared to women. Female participants displayed lower FSS scores compared to men, but higher scores when compared with earlier measures. Regression showed that 15.2% of the variance in BAQ scores can be explained by DAR-5 scores, with an additional 3.8% explained by FSS scores, while an additional 2.3% is explained by years of working experience. Mediation analysis highlighted the role of family support as a negative mediator in the DAR-5 and BAQ relationship.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>During the first year of the pandemic, there was an increase in the sense of family support among female health workers. One-third of the participants displayed increased anger scores. Family support acts as a mediator by preventing anger derailing into aggression. In healthcare worker support programs, it seems necessary to entail a specific section on anger management.</p> </sec></abstract>

A Moderated Mediation Model of the Influence of Cynical Distrust, Medical Mistrust, and Anger on Vaccination Hesitancy in Nursing Staff

“…Low scores indicate a low experience of anger, while higher scores indicate a more severe experience of anger. The cut-off point for the scale is ≥12 [6,[31][32][33]. Regarding the internal reliability of the questionnaire in the present study, Cronbach's alpha was equal to 0.811.…”

“…The coronavirus pandemic took health systems by surprise and caused a global health crisis with a huge physical and psychological impact [1][2][3]. On a worldwide scale, as well as in Greece, particularly in the first year of the pandemic, the shortages in protective equipment [4] and the containment measures taken by governments [5] contributed to the increased anger of health professionals [6], who also experienced the greatest anxiety and stress [7,8].…”

Translation and psychometric evaluation of the Greek version of the Attitudes Toward Transgendered Individuals Scale

“…In earlier studies, before the pandemic crisis, health professionals showed favorable attitudes toward transgender people [52,53]. During the pandemic and immediately afterward, health workers showed aggression, anger [54,55], and cynicism [56] probably because of the pressure. However, this evidence may be consistent with an increase in negative attitudes towards populations now in greater health need.…”

Nightmare distress, insomnia and resilience of nursing staff in the post-pandemic era

“…With a target population of 27103 nurses [19] , [21] , [24] , at a confidence level of 95%, a margin of error of 5% and a percentage of our sample picking a particular answer of 50%, the adequate sample of nurses was set at 379 participants. Considering that the response rate in past studies [48] , [49] was more than 60%, a total of 600 email invitations were dispatched, with 433 nurses consenting to participate, resulting in a response rate of 72.2%. In the first 7 days we had received over 80% of the responses.…”

“…Research among nursing professionals has indicated that heightened resilience levels are associated with enhanced well-being and reduced psychological distress [48] . During the pandemic crisis, it was suggested that healthcare workers with elevated psychological resilience had an advantage in coping with pandemic-induced psychological stress and achieving successful recovery compared to those with lower resilience levels [49] . Recent research explored the role of resilience in the increase in nightmares among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic [50] .…”