Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged everyone’s adaptive resources. However, a limited number of studies have examined its effects on mental health workers, a population at increased risk for vicarious traumatization. Methods: A mediation model was tested using longitudinal self-report data (N=1597). The association among occupation, severity of trauma-related and stressor-related (TSR) symptoms during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and self-efficacy was explored. Results: Mental health workers reported greater self-efficacy than other survey participants (health care workers, general population) (unstandardized β=1.53, P <0.001), and greater self-efficacy was associated with lower TSR symptoms (−0.09, P <0.001). Hence, mental health workers reported lower TSR symptoms through both direct (−0.80, P =0.005) and indirect associations (−0.94, P <0.001), with higher self-efficacy compared with other survey participants. Conclusions: Despite being at greater risk for vicarious traumatization, mental health workers fared well during the first wave of COVID-19. Increasing self-efficacy in high-risk populations in the context of stressful/traumatic events may have some value, an avenue requiring further investigation.
Guo et al. (Sun,) studied this question.