Risk of Contracting COVID-19, Personal Resources and Subjective Well-Being among Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Role of Stress and Meaning-Making

• Main Authors: Dariusz Krok, Beata Zarzycka, Ewa Telka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: risk of contracting COVID-19; personal resources; meaning-making; stress; subjective well-being; healthcare workers
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/1/132

The latest research suggests that the relationships between the risk of contracting COVID-19, personal resources and subjective well-being have rather an indirect character and can include the occurrence of mediating factors related to meaning-making processes and stress experiences. Protection motivation theory offers a theoretical paradigm that enables these associations to be thoroughly investigated and understood. The current study aimed to examine the mediating roles of meaning-making and stress in the relationship of risk of contracting COVID-19 and personal resources (self-efficacy and meaning in life) with subjective well-being among healthcare workers. A total of 225 healthcare workers from hospitals, medical centres and diagnostic units completed a set of questionnaires during the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown period (March–May 2020). The results revealed that greater self-efficacy and meaning in life were associated with higher cognitive and affective dimensions of subjective well-being, whereas a lesser risk of contracting COVID-19 was only associated with the higher affective dimension. The central finding demonstrated different mediating roles of stress and meaning-making in the relationship of risk of contracting COVID-19 and personal resources with the cognitive and affective dimensions of subjective well-being. This confirmed the applicability of meaning-oriented and stress management processes for understanding how healthcare workers’ well-being is affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.