Fear of COVID-19, Perceived Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Professionals: The Mediating Role of Emotion-Focused Coping

Healthcare professionals are at higher risk of burnout during COVID-19 because of their role as a frontline warrior. So, the goal of this study is to search the link between fear of COVID-19 (FOC), perceived stress, coping mechanisms as well as burnout in healthcare professionals. Adopting a cross-sectional research design, this study recruited 120 healthcare professionals purposively from government and private hospitals during COVID-19. All the recruited participants recorded their responses after signing an informed consent in a survey booklet consisting of demographics and standardized assessment tools such as Familial Infection scale (FCFIS), Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory, Perceived Stress scale, and Copenhagen Burnout inventory (CBI). Findings demonstrated a significant positive association between FOC, styles of coping, perceived stress and burnout in the sample. Regression analysis found that burnout was significantly positively predicted by FOC and emotion focused coping style. However, the association between FOC and burnout was mediated by emotion focused coping. The outcomes of this study suggest the advancement of healthy coping strategies to reduce the stress and chances of burnout in the recruited sample. The outcomes of this study indicate the advancement of healthy coping strategies in order to reduce perceived stress and chances of burnout in the recruited sample.