Self-regulation and coping as predictors of mental health concerns among primary healthcare nursing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

There is a growing awareness within healthcare systems of the need to better understand the mental health concerns of frontline workers, who faced a myriad of work-related stressors in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. Self-regulation and coping have been widely accepted as integral processes in supporting mental health. This study explored the contribution of self-regulation and coping of primary healthcare nurses from the Lejweleputswa district of the Free State to their reported experiences of anxiety, depression, and stress. Furthermore, it explored its relationship to demographic variables, such as age, gender, work experience and degree of exposure to COVID-19. A total of 146 (N=146) participants completed the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire, the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced (COPE) Questionnaire. Pearson product-moment coefficient correlations, analyses of variance and hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyse the data. Previous SARS-CoV-2 testing was reported by 86.3% of participants, and 63% reported testing positive for COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic. Most (79.5%) indicated that they had lost a relative or colleague due to COVID-19. DASS-21 results indicated a mean score suggesting moderate depressive symptoms (x? = 14.45), severe anxiety symptoms (x? = 15.0) and a mild level of stress (x? = 16.745). In addition, male participants obtained a significantly higher mean score on depression than the female nurses, whilst female participants nurses obtained a significantly higher mean score on creativity. Results indicated a moderately strong negative relationship between all the measured mental health concerns (depression, anxiety and stress) and the self-regulation strategies of persistence (-0.37, -0.33 and -0.37, respectively) and mindfulness (-0.33, -0.32 and -0.30). Furthermore, similar negative relationships with decision-making were found for both anxiety (-0.32) and stress (-0.32). Coping scales failed to explain a significant percentage of variance in depression, anxiety, and stress, while a significant percentage of the variance in all mental health concerns could be explained by self-regulation. This study provides valuable insights into the role of self-regulation as a predictor of mental health among primary healthcare nurses and highlights it as a potential target for the promotion of mental health among healthcare workers (HCWs) by encouraging self-care and training them in resilience and burnout prevention.