Religion/Spirituality, Moral Injury, and Mental Health among Health Professionals in China
Abstract Purpose: Moral injury (MI) is prevalent among healthcare professionals, and has been shown in those experiencing traumatic events to be associated with suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, and other adverse mental health outcomes. The present study examines the relationship between religion/ spiritual (R/S) and MI among physicians and nurses in mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3,006 physicians and nurses in areas of China where the COVID-19 pandemic was causing high rates of hospitalization and death. The Moral Injury Symptoms Scale-Health Professional (MISS-HP) was administered along with measures of clinician mental health and R/S. Hierarchical linear regression modeling was used to examine the mediating and moderating effect of MI on the relationship between R/S and mental health.Results: Importance of religion was positively correlated with MI symptoms (β=2.41, P<0.01), depressive (β=0.74, P<0.01), and anxiety symptoms (β=0.65, P<0.01) after controlling of multiple demographic variables. MI significantly mediated the relationship between R/S and both depression and anxiety. MI explained 60% (0.46/0.76) of the total association between R/S and depression and 58% (0.38/0.65) of the association with anxiety. No moderating effect was found.Conclusion: Although cross-sectional findings, these results suggest that concern over transgressing moral values during the pandemic may have been a driving factor for negative mental health symptoms among Chinese health professionals for whom religion was important. Future longitudinal studies are needed to determine the causal nature of these relationships.