Anxiety effects on quality of life during the COVID-19 outbreak: A parallel-serial mediation model among nurses in Turkey

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nurses experience loneliness, anxiety, fear, fatigue, sleep disorders, and other physical and mental health problems due to their close contact with patients in cases of epidemic diseases. Among nurses in Turkey, we want to explore how anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation affect nurses’ quality of life. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life (COVID-19 EQLS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-1 and STAI-2), psychological health, and social isolation among nurses. It also aimed to identify whether the influence of trait anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation are stronger than the direct influence of state anxiety on nurses’ quality of life during the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design and STROBE guidelines were implemented. In this study, 638 nurses in Turkey were included using simple random sampling. The participants completed the STAI-1 and STAI-2 and COVID-19 EQLS online-form. The parallel-serial mediation model was used to examine the relationships between the determined variables. RESULTS: Psychological health, psychological effects of social isolation, and trait anxiety fully mediated the relationship between state anxiety and quality of life of nurses. The total indirect effect of the confidence interval of bootstrapping was statistically different from zero. CONCLUSIONS: Trait anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation were the main factors with statistically significant indirect effects on the quality of life of Turkish nurses in this study.