Another Lesson from the Pandemic: Supervisor Social Support for Mental Health Protection in Healthcare Workers, Chile

The mental health of healthcare workers is strongly affected, and more evidence is needed to determine the dimensions of risk and protection related to the presence of anxious and depressive symptomatology. Aim: To determine whether working conditions, social support and socio-occupational characteristics are associated with anxious and depressive symptoms reported by healthcare workers during the pandemic in Chile. Methods: Observational, correlational and cross-sectional study. A survey was applied to 875 healthcare workers (76% women) through SurveyMonkey between 2020-2021. It included mental health (depressive and anxious symptomatology), related to the pandemic working conditions (i.e., insufficient masks, contact with patients with COVID-19, reassignment of work/place/ area, confidence in governmental management to protect personnel), social support (from peers, superiors, and outside work) and socio-occupational variables (sex, occupational status). Bivariate analyses and logistic regressions were conducted to examine the association of pandemic working and socio-occupational conditions on the odds of anxious and depressive symptomatology, and sensitivity analyses to underrepresentation (via post-stratification), missing data and measurement errors (using Rogan-Gladen correction) with 95% confidence intervals(95%CI). Results: Forty-four point five percent (95% CI 35.653.8) [crude percentage: 46%] and 41,4% (95% CI 34.5-48.6) [36%] of the respondents reported scores indicative of anxious and depressive symptoms, respectively. Greater superior support was associated with lower odds of anxious (aOR [adjusted Odds ratio]= 0.87 95%CI 0.79-0.96) and depressive (aOR= 0.86 95%CI 0.78-0.94) symptoms. Also, women had twice the odds of anxious symptomatology versus men (aOR= 2.00 95%CI 1.28-3.19), and those who mistrust the government had twice the odds of depressive symptomatology vs. those who did not (aOR= 1.98 95%CI 1.34-2.94). Conclusions: Superior support emerges as a critical factor in the mental health of personnel in health crises. Prioritizing the protective role of organizational and social support over individual or psychological support in similar contexts is suggested. Urgent measures are needed to prevent anxiety symptoms in female workers, who report them more.