Coronavirus anxiety and exhaustion among Polish front-line healthcare workers – the mediation effect of insomnia

• Authors: Łukasz Baka

Abstracts

EN

ObjectivesThe study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect – mediated through insomnia – effect of coronavirus anxiety on exhaustion, from the perspective of Hobfoll’s theory of conservation of resources (COR). According to the COR theory, critical events (e.g., the coronavirus epidemic) make people fearful of losing their valuable resources. A prolonged state of anxiety may lead to sleeping troubles, which over time results in an increase in exhaustion.Material and MethodsData were collected from 440 Polish healthcare providers, including nurses and midwives, doctors, paramedics, medical assistance workers, and wardens. Three measures were used: the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (the sleeping trouble subscale) and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (the exhaustion subscale). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.ResultsThe obtained results fully support the hypotheses. Both the direct and indirect relationships between coronavirus anxiety and exhaustion were observed. Specifically, high coronavirus anxiety increased insomnia, which in turn contributed to the development of exhaustion.ConclusionsThe results are consistent with the COR theory. Prolonged coronavirus anxiety and sleeping problems depleted healthcare providers’ resources and made them feel exhausted. Exhaustion among these workers can have serious consequences not only for themselves but also for the health of their patients. Therefore, research into effective ways to deal with coronavirus anxiety is needed.

Keywords

EN

insomnia; exhaustion; job burnout; conservation of resources theory; healthcare workers; coronavirus anxiety

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 263-273

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Łukasz Baka

• Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland (Department of Work Psychology)

Identifiers

DOI

10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01745

Biblioteka Nauki

2086086