Perceived barriers and influencing factors of psychological help-seeking amongst Chinese nurses exposed to COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused psychological problems among nurses worldwide. However, their willingness to seek professional help is relatively low, due to perceived barriers that have remained unknown. Aims: This study analysed the potential barriers and influencing factors of psychological help-seeking among nurses participating in community COVID-19 epidemic prevention work. Methods: Five variables – depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress syndrome, social support and mental health literacy – were measured from a sample of 667 nurses. Latent class analysis identified homogeneous classes about psychological help-seeking barriers and multinomial logistic regression identified factors associated with potential grouping outcomes. Results: Three categories were identified: major barriers ( N = 17, 2.5%), stigma and accessibility barriers ( N = 132, 21.2%) and low barriers ( N = 518, 76.4%). Mental health literacy was significantly correlated with the ‘low barriers’ class (OR = 0.953, B = −0.047, p = 0.03), whereas depression (OR = 1.091, B = 0.085, p = 0.011) had a slightly positive effect on being in the ‘stigma and accessibility barriers’ class. Conclusions: During pandemics or other social health crises, nurses may experience psychological barriers to help seeking. Communities and hospitals should consider increasing the resources available for psychological counselling services, improving mental health awareness and literacy that may help reduce depression levels and promote mental health.