The effects of personality types and coping styles on coronavirus anxiety levels of the healthcare workers

Abstract

Purpose: Healthcare workers are exposed to long and stressful work shifts in pandemics. It was aimed to evaluate the coronavirus related anxiety levels of the healthcare workers, and to evaluate the relationship between their personality types and coping strategies. Materials and Methods: Study included 213 medical healthcare workers who were randomly selected and agreed to participate in the study on a voluntary basis. Sociodemographic data form, Coronavirus anxiety scale, Type A Behavior Test, and Coping styles scale was applied to the all participants. Results: The total coronavirus anxiety scores of the participants with type A personality traits were found to be significantly higher than with type B personality traits (p=0.006). The mean scores of helpless approach and seeking social support of were found to be significantly higher in participants with Type A personality (p=0.002, p=0.007, respectively). Self-confident and optimistic approach were found to be higher in participants with Type B personality (p=0.041, p=0.023, respectively). Participants with helpless approach had higher anxiety scores (p=0.033). A negative correlation was found between coronavirus anxiety and self-confident approach (p=0.002, r=-0.212) and optimistic approach (p=0.002, r=- 0.209), and positive correlation with helpless approach (p=0.044, r=0.138). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that those who approached self confident and optimistic can cope with stress better. Individuals with Type A personality are at greater risk for anxiety in the pandemic. Monitoring and ensuring the mental health of healthcare workers is crucial to global health in other possible pandemics.