“Psychological Resilience, Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress among Doctors in Covid-19 pandemic”

Abstract

Pakistan is among the countries affected during the period of Covid-19 pandemic. A high prevalence of psychological distress was observed among the general population as well as doctors in this outbreak. Aims & Objectives: This research was conducted to study the relationship of psychological resilience, burnout and secondary traumatic stress among doctors in COVID-19 pandemic. It also identified the mediating effect of burnout between the relationship of psychological resilience and secondary traumatic stress. Patients and Method: It is a descriptive study with purposive sampling strategy and correlational research design. The sample comprised of 100 doctors from two hospitals of Lahore between September 2020 to February 2021. Participants age range was between 25-40 years. Data was collected by using the following tools, The Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008), Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride et al., 2004), and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Halbesleben & Demerouti, 2005). Results: Results have signified a negative relationship of psychological resilience with secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Burnout has a significant positive relationship with secondary traumatic stress. Moreover, both subscales of burnout (i.e. disengagement and exhaustion) emerged as mediators in the relationship between one subscale of secondary traumatic stress (i.e. intrusion) and psychological resilience. Conclusion: It is concluded that psychological resilience has a significant negative relationship with burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Future researches can design emotional coping strategies and should try to promote programs that can help doctors to enhance resilience so it helps them combat their stress and burnout. Keywords: Psychological resilience, Covid-19, Secondary traumatic stress, burnout