Posttraumatic growth among healthcare workers after SARS

Abstract

This study examined severity of trauma, personal resilience (a composite measure of optimism, self-esteem and perceived control), and perceived social support in relation to posttraumatic growth experience in response to the 2003 SARS outbreak among 426 nurses in Hong Kong. Severity of trauma was operationalized by recruiting three groups of nurses including non-infected nurses without any contact with SARS patients (Group 1), non-infected nurses who took care of SARS patients during the outbreak (Group 2), and infected nurses (Group 3). The last group was expected to experience the highest level of trauma. Results of multiple regression analyses showed that higher level of trauma predicted more posttraumatic growth (Group 3 > Group 2 > Group 1) and posttraumatic stress (Group 3 > Group 1). Besides, higher personal resilience and perceived social support predicted more posttraumatic growth and less posttraumatic stress. These two variables, however, did not moderate the link between trauma and posttraumatic growth or posttraumatic stress in the nurses. Implications of these findings were discussed, with special attention given to the uniqueness of the SARS experience and its psychosocial impact.