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Psychological distress related to COVID-19 among mental health care professionals in full-time private practice in South Africa

Simangele Mayisela et al.

South African Journal of Psychology2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463261416187article
AJG 1
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

Research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching repercussions in South Africa, mirroring trends in other countries by affecting health care systems, economies, and overall quality of life, while also profoundly impacting the work and well-being of mental health care professionals. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the psychological distress (K10 > 16) associated with occupational stress among mental health care professionals in private practice during the first wave of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 284 mental health care practitioners recruited through Medical Pages (Medpages) database and email outreach. Participants completed a SurveyMonkey questionnaire that gathered demographic information, details on occupational COVID-19-related stress, and levels of psychological distress. Univariate and bivariate analyses were employed to describe sample characteristics, assess the prevalence of occupational COVID-19 stress and psychological distress, and explore their association. The majority of participants were male (80%), with a mean age of 49 years. The findings revealed moderate prevalence rates of occupational COVID-19 stress at 66% and psychological distress at 64%. In addition, a moderate positive correlation was found between occupational COVID-19 stress and psychological distress ( r = .46; p < .001). These findings suggest the need for continued psychosocial support and self-care by mental health care professionals beyond COVID-19 pandemic.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463261416187

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@article{simangele2026,
  title        = {{Psychological distress related to COVID-19 among mental health care professionals in full-time private practice in South Africa}},
  author       = {Simangele Mayisela et al.},
  journal      = {South African Journal of Psychology},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463261416187},
}

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Psychological distress related to COVID-19 among mental health care professionals in full-time private practice in South Africa

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.