TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between post-traumatic stress symptoms and quality of life among psychiatric healthcare personnel in China during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A network approach
AU - Zhao, Yan Jie
AU - Zhang, Cheng
AU - Guo, Tong
AU - Sha, Sha
AU - Su, Zhaohui
AU - Cheung, Teris
AU - Jackson, Todd
AU - An, Feng Rong
AU - Xiang, Yu Tao
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University (No. KY296), Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission (Grant No. Z181100001718124), Beijing Talents Foundation (Grant No. 2017000021469G222), University of Macau (No. MYRG2019-00066-FHS), Scientific Research Common Program of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (No. KM202010025011), and Beijing Municipal Science and Tech Commission (No. Z191100006619061).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Zhao, Zhang, Guo, Sha, Su, Cheung, Jackson, An and Xiang.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Background: Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are commonly reported by psychiatric healthcare personnel during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and negatively affect quality of life (QOL). However, associations between PTSS and QOL at symptom level are not clear. This study examined the network structure of PTSS and its connection with QOL in psychiatric healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out between March 15 and March 20, 2020 based on convenience sampling. Self-report measures including the 17-item Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian version (PCL-C) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire - Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to measure PTSS and global QOL, respectively. Network analysis was used to investigate the central symptoms of PTSS and pattern of connections between PTSS and QOL. An undirected network was constructed using an extended Bayesian Information Criterion (EBIC) model, while a directed network was established based on the Triangulated Maximally Filtered Graph (TMFG) method. Results: Altogether, 10,516 psychiatric healthcare personnel completed the assessment. “Avoidance of thoughts” (PTSS-6), “Avoidance of reminders” (PTSS-7), and “emotionally numb” (PTSS-11) were the most central symptoms in the PTSS community, all of which were in the Avoidance and Numbing domain. Key bridge symptoms connecting PTSS and QOL were “Sleep disturbances” (PTSS-13), “Irritability” (PTSS-14) and “Difficulty concentrating” (PTSS-15), all of which were within the Hyperarousal domain. Conclusion: In this sample, the most prominent PTSS symptoms reflected avoidance while symptoms of hyper-arousal had the strongest links with QOL. As such, these symptom clusters are potentially useful targets for interventions to improve PTSS and QOL among healthcare personnel at work under pandemic conditions.
AB - Background: Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are commonly reported by psychiatric healthcare personnel during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and negatively affect quality of life (QOL). However, associations between PTSS and QOL at symptom level are not clear. This study examined the network structure of PTSS and its connection with QOL in psychiatric healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out between March 15 and March 20, 2020 based on convenience sampling. Self-report measures including the 17-item Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian version (PCL-C) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire - Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to measure PTSS and global QOL, respectively. Network analysis was used to investigate the central symptoms of PTSS and pattern of connections between PTSS and QOL. An undirected network was constructed using an extended Bayesian Information Criterion (EBIC) model, while a directed network was established based on the Triangulated Maximally Filtered Graph (TMFG) method. Results: Altogether, 10,516 psychiatric healthcare personnel completed the assessment. “Avoidance of thoughts” (PTSS-6), “Avoidance of reminders” (PTSS-7), and “emotionally numb” (PTSS-11) were the most central symptoms in the PTSS community, all of which were in the Avoidance and Numbing domain. Key bridge symptoms connecting PTSS and QOL were “Sleep disturbances” (PTSS-13), “Irritability” (PTSS-14) and “Difficulty concentrating” (PTSS-15), all of which were within the Hyperarousal domain. Conclusion: In this sample, the most prominent PTSS symptoms reflected avoidance while symptoms of hyper-arousal had the strongest links with QOL. As such, these symptom clusters are potentially useful targets for interventions to improve PTSS and QOL among healthcare personnel at work under pandemic conditions.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - network
KW - post-traumatic stress symptoms
KW - psychiatric healthcare personnel
KW - quality of life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149499551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.975443
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.975443
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85149499551
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
M1 - 975443
ER -