The Multifactorial Background of Helping Professionals’ Vital Exhaustion and Subjective Well-Being During the First Wave of COVID-19 in Hungary: A Cross-Sectional Study Attila PILINSZKI, Bernadett ASZTALOS, Ildikó DANIS, Máté JOÓB, Timea TÉSENYI & Gábor TÖRÖK EJMH Vol 17 Issue 2 (2022) 104-117; https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.17.2022.2.11 Received: 2021. 10. 11.; Accepted: 2022. 03. 10.; Online date: 2022. 10. 18. Section: Research Article
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Abstract
Introduction: Vital exhaustion and the well-being of helping professionals are important issues regarding the sustainability of services, especially in a critical situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate helping professionals’ vital exhaustion and well-being, concerning different groups of background variables during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: In the spring of 2020, Hungarian helping professionals (N = 931) were contacted with an online questionnaire.
Results: Our results show that indicators of physical well-being are strongly associated with vital exhaustion and subjective well-being (sleeping quality (χ2 (2) = 251.062, p < .001); frequency of meals (χ2 (2) = 99.454, p < .001)). Health and social care workers were more exhausted than members of other helping professions (χ2(4) =37.782, p < .001). There were statistically significant negative correlations between the Vital exhaustion and Well-being Score and satisfaction with work conditions (rs(929) = -.418, p < .001), satisfaction with family life (rs(806) = -.342, p < .001) and its change (rs(807) = -.287, p < .001), family-work balance (rs(675) = -.444, p < .001) and its change (rs(786) = -.515, p < .001). In the prediction of the Vital Exhaustion and the Well-being Score, the addition of physical well-being indicators to the regression model led to the strongest increase in R2 of .344, p < .001.
Conclusion: A clear and consensual framework for life and work provides security amid unpredictable external changes.
Keywords
vital exhaustion, well-being, health care workers, social workers, helping professionals
Corresponding author
Attila PILINSZKI
Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
Co-authors
Bernadett ASZTALOS: Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1533-3743
Ildikó DANIS: Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0696-6338
Máté JOÓB: Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6695-7855
Timea TÉSENYI: Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2436-2500
Gábor TÖRÖK: Faculty of Health and Public Administration, Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8512-6320
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.