Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a range of effects on populations around the globe. Of those hit by the pandemic, frontline healthcare workers have arguably been among the most vulnerable toward experiences of burnout, viral exposure, and psychological distress. While there is an understanding of the negative influence of the pandemic on this population, little research has been conducted exploring emergence of positive outcomes amidst the hardest of times. This present study examined the influence of specific predictor variables (professional identity, coping style, spiritual/religious beliefs) on the occurrence of posttraumatic growth (PTG) among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 216 frontline healthcare workers from across the United States contributed to this data through online survey format. Results showed spiritual/religious beliefs as the largest predictor among the variables. The role of avoidance coping was found to be predictive of PTG, as was active and emotion-focused coping though these variables were not significant within the final model. Professional identity was shown to predict PTG, and the interplay of this variable with age and time working frontline influenced the prediction. Findings support the hypotheses around expected predictive qualities of spiritual/religious beliefs and offer insight into the role of coping style and professional identity for frontline healthcare workers’ posttraumatic growth with unique clinical implications.