Depression and hopelessness in Turkish healthcare workers: The moderating and mediating roles of meaning in life

ABSTRACT

Healthcare workers who served in southern cities of Turkey have been directly and indirectly affected by the civil war in Syria due to stress and trauma. Hopelessness in these healthcare workers can be a potential contributor to their levels of depression. On the other hand, meaning in life, as both moderating and mediating variable, can serve to counteract depression. This is a study of 286 Turkish healthcare workers who served in a southern border city of Turkey and Syria in February and March of 2018. The study examined the effects of hopelessness and meaning in life on depression level including the moderating and mediating effects of meaning in life on the relationship between hopelessness and depression. A hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping procedure were employed to test the research questions. This study found that hopelessness positively predicted depression and meaning in life negatively predicted depression. Meaning in life significantly moderated and partially mediated the association between hopelessness and depression. Healthcare workers who served in a conflict area experienced more depression when they had more hopelessness and less meaning in life. Moreover, meaning in life played a central role as both moderator and mediator. Results are discussed with implications and limitations.

KEYWORDS:

• Healthcare workers’ mental health
• warzone
• depression
• hopelessness
• meaning in life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Abdi Güngör http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-0906

Ayşe Gül Uçman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9163-3430