Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff

Intensive care settings place specific work-related demands on health care professionals that may elicit stress and negatively influence occupational health and work engagement. Psychological flexibility has emerged as a promising construct that could help explain variation in reported health. Under...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Johan Holmberg, Mike K. Kemani, Linda Holmström, Lars-Göran Öst, Rikard K. Wicksell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.603986/full
id doaj-1c068bb5e39e459ca34dd9456812bda6
record_format Article
spelling doaj-1c068bb5e39e459ca34dd9456812bda62020-11-25T03:04:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-11-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.603986603986Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical StaffJohan Holmberg0Johan Holmberg1Mike K. Kemani2Mike K. Kemani3Linda Holmström4Lars-Göran Öst5Rikard K. Wicksell6Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenStress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenIntensive care settings place specific work-related demands on health care professionals that may elicit stress and negatively influence occupational health and work engagement. Psychological flexibility has emerged as a promising construct that could help explain variation in reported health. Understanding the role of psychological flexibility in occupational psychological health among intensive care medical staff may potentially guide the development of effective interventions. Thus, the present study evaluated the relationships between psychological flexibility (Work-related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire), distress (Perceived Stress Scale, General Health Questionnaire) and work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) in a sample of 144 health care professionals from one adult (ICU, N = 98) and one pediatric (PICU, N = 46) intensive care unit. In addition to cross-sectional analyses, a subset of data (PICU, N = 46) was analyzed using a longitudinal design. Results illustrated that higher levels of distress were associated with lower levels of work engagement. Furthermore, psychological flexibility was related to greater work engagement, and psychological flexibility had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between distress and work engagement. Lastly, increased psychological flexibility over time corresponded with increased work engagement. Although tentative, the results suggest the importance of psychological flexibility for work engagement in health care professionals within intensive care settings.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.603986/fullintensive carepsychological flexibilityperceived stresswork engagementoccupational health
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Johan Holmberg
Johan Holmberg
Mike K. Kemani
Mike K. Kemani
Linda Holmström
Lars-Göran Öst
Rikard K. Wicksell
spellingShingle Johan Holmberg
Johan Holmberg
Mike K. Kemani
Mike K. Kemani
Linda Holmström
Lars-Göran Öst
Rikard K. Wicksell
Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
Frontiers in Psychology
intensive care
psychological flexibility
perceived stress
work engagement
occupational health
author_facet Johan Holmberg
Johan Holmberg
Mike K. Kemani
Mike K. Kemani
Linda Holmström
Lars-Göran Öst
Rikard K. Wicksell
author_sort Johan Holmberg
title Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
title_short Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
title_full Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
title_fullStr Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
title_full_unstemmed Psychological Flexibility and Its Relationship to Distress and Work Engagement Among Intensive Care Medical Staff
title_sort psychological flexibility and its relationship to distress and work engagement among intensive care medical staff
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Psychology
issn 1664-1078
publishDate 2020-11-01
description Intensive care settings place specific work-related demands on health care professionals that may elicit stress and negatively influence occupational health and work engagement. Psychological flexibility has emerged as a promising construct that could help explain variation in reported health. Understanding the role of psychological flexibility in occupational psychological health among intensive care medical staff may potentially guide the development of effective interventions. Thus, the present study evaluated the relationships between psychological flexibility (Work-related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire), distress (Perceived Stress Scale, General Health Questionnaire) and work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale) in a sample of 144 health care professionals from one adult (ICU, N = 98) and one pediatric (PICU, N = 46) intensive care unit. In addition to cross-sectional analyses, a subset of data (PICU, N = 46) was analyzed using a longitudinal design. Results illustrated that higher levels of distress were associated with lower levels of work engagement. Furthermore, psychological flexibility was related to greater work engagement, and psychological flexibility had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between distress and work engagement. Lastly, increased psychological flexibility over time corresponded with increased work engagement. Although tentative, the results suggest the importance of psychological flexibility for work engagement in health care professionals within intensive care settings.
topic intensive care
psychological flexibility
perceived stress
work engagement
occupational health
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.603986/full
work_keys_str_mv AT johanholmberg psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT johanholmberg psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT mikekkemani psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT mikekkemani psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT lindaholmstrom psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT larsgoranost psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
AT rikardkwicksell psychologicalflexibilityanditsrelationshiptodistressandworkengagementamongintensivecaremedicalstaff
_version_ 1724682976976961536