Mental health in Austrian psychotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Frontiers in public health Vol. 10; p. 1011539
• Main Authors: Schaffler, Yvonne, Kaltschik, Stefan, Probst, Thomas, Jesser, Andrea, Pieh, Christoph, Humer, Elke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 08.11.2022
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; anxiety; Austria - epidemiology; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; depression; Female; Humans; insomnia; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Psychotherapists; Public Health; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; wellbeing; Austria; COVID-19; anxiety; stress; psychotherapists; wellbeing; depression; insomnia
• ISSN: 2296-2565; 2296-2565
• DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1011539

Although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has been reported in different communities, little is known about the mental health of psychotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austrian psychotherapists and compare it with the general population. A total of = 513 psychotherapists (80.5% women; mean age: 53.06 ± 9.94 years) took part in an online survey conducted from April to June 2022. At the same time, a representative sample ( = 1,031) of the Austrian general population was surveyed online. Indicators of mental health were mental wellbeing (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-2), anxiety (GAD-2), insomnia (ISI-2), and stress (PSS-10). The general population sample was matched according to age and gender with the psychotherapist's data using propensity scores, yielding a final sample of = 513 (80.5% women; mean age: 52.33 ± 13.39 years). Psychotherapists showed lower odds for exceeding cut-offs for clinically relevant depressive, anxiety, insomnia and stress symptoms (0.34-0.58) compared to the general population. Further studies should elucidate the protective factors underlying these findings.