J Psychiatr Res. 2025 Sep 28;191:340-348. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.09.053. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite extensive research on resilience within specific disorders such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety, there remains a gap in understanding how resilience interacts with psychological symptoms at a more granular level.
METHODS: We conducted a survey involving 2070 healthcare workers from 83 medical and health facilities in Beijing, China, who were on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological symptoms and resilience were assessed using standardized measures: the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), COVID-19-specific Impact of Event Scale-Revised-Revised (IES-R-R), and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Additionally, network analysis was applied to identify central and bridge symptoms and explore their relationships with resilience.
RESULTS: Findings revealed that 49.9 % of surveyed frontline healthcare workers exhibited psychological symptoms, specifically depression (41.8 %), anxiety (30.8 %), insomnia (34.3 %), and COVID-19-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (21.3 %). Network analysis highlighted hyperarousal, uncontrollable worry, and insomnia-related symptoms as the most prominent central symptoms, with hyperarousal emerging as the strongest bridge symptom across the network of psychological symptoms. Notably, resilience demonstrated a significant negative correlation with these central and bridge symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of psychological symptoms among former frontline healthcare workers remains high, with hyperarousal symptoms of COVID-19-related PTSD potentially exacerbating the situation. Enhancing resilience could be a key strategy for improving core psychological symptoms and, consequently, overall psychological well-being.
PMID:41045765 | DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.09.053
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