Burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among medical staff two years after the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China: social support and resilience as mediators
Open accessAbstract
Background Evidence on the relationship between burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is limited. We aimed to evaluate the association between burnout and PTSD symptoms among medical staff two years after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Wuhan, China, and explore the mediating roles of social support and psychological resilience.Methods A multicenter survey was conducted online from January to March 2022 among healthcare professionals from six general hospitals. Hierarchical linear regression was used to detect the predictors of PTSD symptoms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the pathways from burnout to PTSD symptoms.Results Hierarchical linear regression showed that burnout, social support, and psychological resilience were significant predictors of PTSD symptoms among medical staff. In the SEM, the standardized total effect of burnout on PTSD symptoms was 0.336(bias-corrected 95 % confidence interval [0.303, 0.367], P < 0.001). Social support and psychological resilience partially mediated the relationship between burnout and PTSD symptoms (indirect effects accounted for 22.3 % of the total effect).Limitations Owing to the cross-sectional design, only clues to causal explanations can be provided.Conclusions Burnout has significant direct and indirect effects on PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, social support and psychological resilience might be effective ways to reduce the impact of burnout on PTSD symptoms in medical staff after a major public health outbreak.
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Previous studies relate cognitive fusion and depression to emotional exhaustion, and low levels of resilience with burnout.
“This is consistent with previous studies that relate cognitive fusion (54) and depression (49, 52) to emotional exhaustion, and low levels of resilience with burnout (55, 56).”
From Evolution of burnout syndrome in Spanish healthcare professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: psychosocial variables involved (2025) · cites this paper as [55]
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Gil-Almagro, F., Carmona-Monge, F. J., García-Hedrera, F. J., & Peñacoba-Puente, C. (2025) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2025.1522134 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Liu, Y., Zou, L., Yan, S., Zhang, P., Zhang, J., Wen, J., Mao, J., Li, L., Wang, Y., & Fu, W.
- Affiliations
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (CN)
- Hunan Normal University (CN)
- Hubei University of Medicine (CN)
- Tongji Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Fu, Wenning
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-01
- Volume
- 321
- Pages
- 126-133
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9585849
- OpenAlex
- W4307055437
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 11.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (72104082)
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (KLET-202002)
- Hainan Medical University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder, healthcare workers, social support, psychological resilience, mediating effect, COVID-19 pandemic, Wuhan
- MeSH terms
- Burnout, Psychological, COVID-19, Burnout, Professional, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Medical Staff, Social Support, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Pandemics
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