Personality Profiles and Personal Factors Associated with Psychological Distress in Chinese Nurses

Wentao Huang,1,* Shu Cai,1,* Ye Zhou,1 Jingxin Huang,1 Xibin Sun,2 Yunhui Su,3 Meifen Dai,4 Yutao Lan1 1School of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Nursing, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, South China University of Technology (Nanhai District People’s Hospital of Foshan), Foshan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yutao LanSchool of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510310, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail lanyutao@gdpu.edu.cnMeifen DaiDepartment of Nursing, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, South China University of Technology (Nanhai District People’s Hospital of Foshan), Foshan, 528200, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 63015911@qq.comBackground: A high prevalence of psychological distress is observed in nurses due to multiple occupational stressors. Personality traits and personal factors are important factors that lead to psychological distress. The personality profile reflects a combination of personality traits; however, the relationship between personality profiles and personal factors that affect psychological distress among nurses has not been defined.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2020 in China. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants. Latent profile analysis was used to identify personality profiles of nurses based on the big-five personality traits. Single-factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the factors affecting psychological distress. The structural equation model was used to verify the hypothetical model linking personality profiles, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style with psychological distress.Results: A total of 953 Chinese nurses (934 female) with a mean (S.D.) age of 32.8 (8.6) years were recruited. Personality profiles identified were negative, normative, and positive. A personality profile may predict psychological distress directly and indirectly through self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style.Limitations: No complex sampling limits the representativeness of Chinese nurses. External factors affecting psychological distress were not investigated.Conclusion: Nurses with anegative personality profile had a higher prevalence of psychological distress. This study establishes the importance of personality profile assessment to identify nurses at higher risk of psychological distress. It suggests that interventions should be based on self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style as potential management strategies.Keywords: psychological distress, personality profile, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, coping style, nurs