The predictors of secondary traumatic stress and psychological resilience in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between predictive factors of secondary traumatic stress (STS), that is, sociodemographic and work characteristics, and the psychological resilience of healthcare professionals working in different regions of Turkey. This cross-sectional study included 1416 healthcare workers (HCWs). An independent sample t-test and hierarchical regression analysis were performed to analyse the data. The predictor variables for STS included perception of health, fear of contagion, anxiety about infecting family members, psychological resilience, type of work, having a COVID-19 diagnosis in the family, and experiencing a loss due to COVID-19 (p < 0.05). The variables that predicted psychological resilience included socioeconomic status, health status, age, marital status, work experience, and type of work (p < 0.05). A low number of resilient HCWs experienced secondary traumatic stress.