The Intersection of Work and Home Challenges Faced by Physician Mothers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented extreme challenges for health care workers. This study sought to characterize challenges faced by physician mothers, compare differences in challenges by home and work characteristics, and elicit specific needs and potential solutions. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods online survey of the Physician Moms Group (PMG) and PMG COVID19 Subgroup on Facebook from April 18th to 29th, 2020. We collected structured data on personal and professional characteristics and qualitative data on home and work concerns. We analyzed qualitative data thematically and used bivariate analyses to evaluate variation in themes by frontline status and children's ages. Results: We included 1,806 participants in analysis and identified 10 key themes. The most frequently identified need/solution was for Community and Government Support (n = 545, 47.1%). When comparing frontline and nonfrontline physicians, those on the frontline more frequently raised concerns about Personal Health and Safety (67.8% vs. 48.4%, p < 0.001), Organizational Communication and Relationships (31.8% vs. 23.8%, p < 0.001), and Family Health and Safety (27.2 vs. 16.6, p < 0.001), while nonfrontline physicians more frequently addressed Patient Care and Safety (56.4% vs. 48.2%, p < 0.001) and Financial/Job Security (33.8% vs. 46.9%, p < 0.001). Participants with an elementary school-aged child more frequently raised concerns about Parenting/Homeschooling (44.0% vs. 31.1%, p < 0.001) and Work/Life Balance (28.4 vs. 13.7, p < 0.001), and participants with a preschool-aged child more frequently addressed Access to Childcare (24.0 vs. 7.7, p < 0.001) and Spouse/Partner Relationships (15.8 vs. 9.5, p < 0.001), when compared to those without children in these age groups.

Identifying Psychosocial Risks and Protective Measures for Workers’ Mental Wellbeing at the Time of COVID-19: A Narrative Review

“…For HCWs this is mostly a heavier workload, while for other professionals the negative mental outcomes are often associated with a decrease in their workload [45]. Anxiety, depression and stress were all psychological dimensions positively related to augmented workload and job demand in terms of longer working hours, intensity and efforts [18,20,25,51,[54][55][56][57][58][59]. Workload increased dramatically for workers who reported, suspected, or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases among their colleagues [60,61] and this plays a crucial role in the dimension of work-life balance [53,62].…”

“…At the same time, work impairment was negatively influenced by anxiety and depression [66]. Factors related to poor training correlated to more frequent depressive and anxiety symptoms, including having been redeployed without training or with unsatisfactory training [17,22,53,55]. Workplace preparation and communication were identified as controllable and modifiable factors in the workplace, which can be related to psychiatric symptoms [55].…”

“…Factors related to poor training correlated to more frequent depressive and anxiety symptoms, including having been redeployed without training or with unsatisfactory training [17,22,53,55]. Workplace preparation and communication were identified as controllable and modifiable factors in the workplace, which can be related to psychiatric symptoms [55]. Performance at work, fear of making mistakes and uncertainty about how to act properly were factors associated with psychological distress [25,60] as well as disinformation about COVID-19 [48].…”

A survey study of the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physician parents

“…Conversely, physician who self-isolate lost the benefits of family and social contact [ 4 ]. Physician parents also had the added stress of comforting fearful children who developed anxiety for their parent’s safety from infection, along with navigating through their children’s personal hardships relating to the social inactivity and restriction the pandemic elicited [ 5 ].…”

“…This new task put added stress to their already busy schedules, which included helping their children keep track of their school work and/or virtual learning schedules [ 6 ]. Specifically, physician mothers, especially those with elementary school-aged children, found they had increased levels of stress when attempting to manage their children’s remote learning, or new homeschooling needs, when compared to those physicians without children, or a child within this age group [ 5 ]. Ultimately, these physicians with school-aged children lacked the ability and time to care for their mental health which led to increased stress level.…”