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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has placed the healthcare system under substantial strain that has caused elevated psychological distress among healthcare workers (HCWs). Previous studies have found a high prevalence of burnout among HCWs exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and have delineated some associated factors, but further research is needed. Little is known, for example, whether the economic status of HCWs or experiencing negative and positive emotions contribute to burnout. The present study was meant to fill this gap.MethodsA total of 412 HCWs (i.e.: nurses - 47%, physicians-28%, psychologists-14%, and other healthcare professionals-11%), aged 21–69 years (M = 36.63; SD = 11.76) participated in a web-based cross-sectional study. Data was collected from June to November 2020. The participants filled out measures assessing two dimensions of burnout (Exhaustion and Disengagement), depression, generalized anxiety, positive and negative emotions, along with the survey evaluating organizational aspects of their work during the pandemic.ResultsBurnout thresholds were met by 54 and 66% of respondents for Disengagement and Exhaustion, respectively, which is high but comparable to levels found in other countries during the pandemic. Similarly to previous work, depression and anxiety were high in HCWs, with 24 % of them being in the risk group for clinical severity of depression and 34% in the risk group for a clinical generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Regression analysis showed that the intensity of negative emotions was the strongest predictor of Exhaustion, whereas the intensity of positive emotions was the strongest predictor of Disengagement. Depression and GAD symptoms were positively related to Exhaustion, and economic status was inversely related to Disengagement.DiscussionThese results suggest that distress in HCWs during the pandemic was related to symptoms of burnout, whereas higher income and experiencing positive emotions were associated with reduced burnout levels. Our findings call for the development of burnout intervention programs that could build capacities for dealing with depression and other negative emotions and at the same time teach skills on how to increase positive emotions in HCWs.

BackgroundAttentional impairments in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been studied extensively, particularly in toddlers and young children. Attentional processes in teenagers with ASD are not fully understood, nor are the relationships between attentional deficits and ASD symptoms in this group.MethodThe aim of this study was to measure the attentional characteristics that attention network theory posits as being related to attention processes: alerting, orientating, and executive attention. We included 37 adolescents (aged 12–20) with ASD and Wechsler IQ in the normal range (≥70) and 37 neurotypical counterparts (NT) matched in terms of age, gender, and IQ. Symptoms of ASD were measured using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Second Edition (ADOS-2) and Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R).ResultsThe adolescents with ASD reacted more slowly in all task conditions of the Attention Network Test and committed more errors in six of seven task conditions of this test. There were no group differences in the effects of alerting, orienting, and executive attention. We found moderate correlations of the effect of executive attention with three scales of ADOS-2 (communication, social functioning, and restricted behavior), as well as with the social scale and restricted behavior of ADI-R.ConclusionThe results indicate that adolescents with ASD performed tasks requiring alerting and orienting attention less efficiently than their counterparts in terms of correctness and reaction time. The relationships between executive attention measures and communication and social affect is discussed.