Personal Predictors of Stress Resistance of Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Introduction. The article explores the problem of personal predictors of stress resistance of medical workers - subjects of clinical activity, insufficiently studied in the context of the predictor role of personal potential and its significant psychological education – dispositional optimism. The purpose of the study: to identify the relationships of optimism, properties that form personality adaptability, and neuropsychiatric resistance to determine the predictor role of the components of personal potential in the stress resistance of subjects of clinical activity. Methods. Applied: "Boston Stress Resistance Test", C. Scheyer and M. Carver optimism test, personality social adaptability questionnaire. Sample: doctors and nurses of medical and preventive institutions in Krasnodar (85 people). Statistical analysis was performed using methods of parametric, multifunctional and multivariate statistics in the SPSS-26 environment. Results. Subjects have a medium-high level of stress resistance, with high stress resistance prevailing among nurses (p < 0.05), and normal (medium) - in physicians (p < 0.01). The «positive expectations» indicator at the "high" and "above average" levels is set at 67,0%, and the «negative expectations» indicator is set at 33,0% of subjects. Adaptability is based on reduced creativity with an average level of conformity and lability. K-mean cluster analysis with inclusion of analysis of variance identified three clusters of different volumes. The first is the largest (55,3% of respondents); stress resistance corresponds to the normal range, and optimism is based on positive expectations. In the other two clusters, weak and very weak stress resistance is recorded during activity in the structure of optimism of the «negative expectations» disposition. The properties of social adaptability remain unchanged under different manifestations of stress resistance. Discussion. Three types of stress resistance caused by different disposition indicators of optimism are statistically justified among healthcare professionals. The first type – "Optimistic stress resistance", is based on the predominance of positive expectations. The phenomenon of reduced optimism established in two other clusters acts as a predictor of weak stress resistance of medical professionals and can be generalized as the "Type of alarming negative expectations".

Keywords

• adaptability
• disposition optimism
• conformity
• creativity
• lability
• personality potential
• healthcare professionals
• stress resistance