Understanding the effect of fear of COVID-19 on COVID-19 burnout and job satisfaction: a mediation model of psychological capital

ABSTRACT

Healthcare professionals are more at risk than others of being affected by the negative psychological consequences of COVID-19. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the factors protecting healthcare professionals from the negative psychological consequences of the pandemic. The purpose of the present study is to examine the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship of fear of COVID-19 with COVID-19 burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish healthcare professionals. Participants included 313 healthcare professionals (52.7% females) ranged in age between 22 and 59 years (mean age = 34.41 ± 6.59) and completed measures of fear of COVID-19, psychological capital, job satisfaction and burnout. A mediation model indicated that fear of COVID-19 was negatively associated with psychological capital and job satisfaction but positively associated with COVID-19 burnout. The model also indicated that psychological capital was negatively associated with COVID-19 burnout and positively associated with job satisfaction. Additionally, psychological capital mitigated the effect of fear of COVID-19 on COVID-19 burnout. Finally, the results indicated that fear of COVID-19 did not only have a direct effect on reduced job satisfaction but also had an indirect effect on it through increased psychological capital. Findings elucidate our understanding of the role of psychological capital in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and COVID-19 burnout and job satisfaction. The results are useful for developing and implementing intervention programs to reduce the negative psychological effects of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• fear of COVID-19
• psychological capital
• COVID-19 burnout
• job satisfaction

Acknowledgments

We thank to all participants who voluntarily contributed to this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University Research Ethics Board. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article