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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1399167
This article is part of the Research Topic How Workplace Behaviors Impact Mental Health: Does Diversity Matter? View all 27 articles

The empathy and stress mindset of healthcare workers: the chain mediating roles of self-disclosure and social support

Provisionally accepted
Jinxia Wu Jinxia Wu 1Jinhua Dou Jinhua Dou 1Daofeng Wang Daofeng Wang 2Lizhuo Wang Lizhuo Wang 2Feng Chen Feng Chen 1Guohua Lu Guohua Lu 1Lin Sun Lin Sun 1,2,3*Jianlan liu Jianlan liu 1*
  • 1 Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
  • 2 Shanting District People's Hospital, Zaozhuang, Shandong, China
  • 3 Management Committee of Shanting Economic Development Zone, Zaozhuang，China, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The hospital is a workplace full of stressful events for healthcare workers (HCWs) due to unpredictable changes in their daily routines. Perceptions of stressful events (stress mindset) have a significant impact on an individual's health and well-being. However, few studies have reported the factors and potential counter mechanisms influencing these perceptions. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between empathy, self-disclosure, social support, and stress mindset of HCWs, and to explore the mechanism of empathy on stress mindset. Five hundred and eight HCWs (35.2% men and 64.8% women) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Distress Disclosure Index (DDI), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Stress Mindset Measure (SMM), and demographic questionnaires online in China. The results showed that empathy was positively linked with stress mindset and positively correlated with self-disclosure and social support. In the multiple mediating model, self-disclosure and social support mediated the association between empathy and stress mindset sequentially. The results imply that empathy, self-disclosure, and social support play a significant role in the formation of HCWs' stress mindset. These findings have substantial ramifications for reducing stress and creating successful government interventions to fortify stress mindset in healthcare.

    Keywords: Empathy, self-disclosure, social support, Stress mindset, Healthcare workers

    Received: 11 Mar 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wu, Dou, Wang, Wang, Chen, Lu, Sun and liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Lin Sun, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Jianlan liu, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.