Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers

Djordje Basic; Diana Czepiel; Hans W. Hoek; Adriana M. Martínez; Clare McCormack; Ezra S. Susser; Franco Mascayano; Maria F. Moro; Mauro G. Carta; Gonzalo Martínez-Alés; Eduardo Fernández-Jiménez; Josleen A.I. Barathie; Elie G. Karam; Daisuke Nishi; Hiroki Asaoka; Olatunde Ayinde; Oye Gureje; Oyeyemi Afolabi; Olusegun Olaopa; Jorge Ramírez; Armando Basagoitia; María T.S. Soto; Sol Durand-Arias; Jana Šeblová; Dominika Seblova; Andrea Tenorio; Dinarte Ballester; María S. Burrone; Rubén Alvarado; Julian Santaella-Tenorio; Uta Ouali; Anna Isahakyan; Jutta Lindert; Jaime C. Sapag; Dorian E. Ramírez; Lubna Alnasser; Eliut Rivera-Segarra; Arin Balalian; Roberto Mediavilla; Els van der Ven

doi:10.1017/gmh.2025.10067

Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers

Djordje Basic
, Diana Czepiel
, Hans W. Hoek
, Adriana M. Martínez
, Clare McCormack
, Ezra S. Susser
, Franco Mascayano
, Maria F. Moro
, Mauro G. Carta
, Gonzalo Martínez-Alés
, Eduardo Fernández-Jiménez
, Josleen A.I. Barathie
, Elie G. Karam
, Daisuke Nishi
, Hiroki Asaoka
, Olatunde Ayinde
, Oye Gureje
, Oyeyemi Afolabi
, Olusegun Olaopa
, Jorge Ramírez

Armando Basagoitia, María T.S. Soto, Sol Durand-Arias, Jana Šeblová, Dominika Seblova, Andrea Tenorio, Dinarte Ballester, María S. Burrone, Rubén Alvarado, Julian Santaella-Tenorio, Uta Ouali, Anna Isahakyan, Jutta Lindert, Jaime C. Sapag, Dorian E. Ramírez, Lubna Alnasser, Eliut Rivera-Segarra, Arin Balalian, Roberto Mediavilla, Els van der Ven^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Previous research has highlighted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers’ (HCWs) mental health, yet protective factors remain underexplored. Emerging studies emphasize the importance of trust in government and interpersonal relationships in reducing infections and fostering positive vaccine attitudes. This study investigates the relationship between HCWs’ trust in the workplace and government and depressive symptoms during the pandemic. The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS study surveyed 32,410 HCWs from 22 countries, including clinical and nonclinical staff. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and ad-hoc questions assessing trust in the workplace and government. Logistic regression and multilevel models examined associations between trust levels and depressive symptoms. High workplace trust (OR = 0.72 [0.68, 0.76]) and government trust (OR = 0.72 [0.69, 0.76]) were linked to lower odds of depressive symptoms, with significant between-country variation. Country-level analyses showed that workplace trust was more protective in more developed countries and under stricter COVID-19 restrictions. Despite cross-country variation, HCWs with higher trust in the workplace and government had ~28% lower odds of experiencing depressive symptoms compared to those with lower trust. Promoting trust may help mitigate the mental health impact of future crises on HCWs.

Original language	English
Article number	e130
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health
Volume	12
Early online date	13 Oct 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2025.10067
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2025.

Keywords

COVID-19
cross-country
depression
healthcare workers
trust

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10.1017/gmh.2025.10067Licence: CC BY

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Basic, D., Czepiel, D., Hoek, H. W., Martínez, A. M., McCormack, C., Susser, E. S., Mascayano, F., Moro, M. F., Carta, M. G., Martínez-Alés, G., Fernández-Jiménez, E., Barathie, J. A. I., Karam, E. G., Nishi, D., Asaoka, H., Ayinde, O., Gureje, O., Afolabi, O., Olaopa, O., ... van der Ven, E. (2025). Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, 12, 1-11. Article e130. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2025.10067

@article{4c1f08125d944e53a3ab63306a3b2f88,

title = "Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers",

abstract = "Previous research has highlighted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers{\textquoteright} (HCWs) mental health, yet protective factors remain underexplored. Emerging studies emphasize the importance of trust in government and interpersonal relationships in reducing infections and fostering positive vaccine attitudes. This study investigates the relationship between HCWs{\textquoteright} trust in the workplace and government and depressive symptoms during the pandemic. The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS study surveyed 32,410 HCWs from 22 countries, including clinical and nonclinical staff. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and ad-hoc questions assessing trust in the workplace and government. Logistic regression and multilevel models examined associations between trust levels and depressive symptoms. High workplace trust (OR = 0.72 [0.68, 0.76]) and government trust (OR = 0.72 [0.69, 0.76]) were linked to lower odds of depressive symptoms, with significant between-country variation. Country-level analyses showed that workplace trust was more protective in more developed countries and under stricter COVID-19 restrictions. Despite cross-country variation, HCWs with higher trust in the workplace and government had \textasciitilde{}28\% lower odds of experiencing depressive symptoms compared to those with lower trust. Promoting trust may help mitigate the mental health impact of future crises on HCWs.",

keywords = "COVID-19, cross-country, depression, healthcare workers, trust",

author = "Djordje Basic and Diana Czepiel and Hoek, \{Hans W.\} and Mart{\'i}nez, \{Adriana M.\} and Clare McCormack and Susser, \{Ezra S.\} and Franco Mascayano and Moro, \{Maria F.\} and Carta, \{Mauro G.\} and Gonzalo Mart{\'i}nez-Al{\'e}s and Eduardo Fern{\'a}ndez-Jim{\'e}nez and Barathie, \{Josleen A.I.\} and Karam, \{Elie G.\} and Daisuke Nishi and Hiroki Asaoka and Olatunde Ayinde and Oye Gureje and Oyeyemi Afolabi and Olusegun Olaopa and Jorge Ram{\'i}rez and Armando Basagoitia and Soto, \{Mar{\'i}a T.S.\} and Sol Durand-Arias and Jana {\v S}eblov{\'a} and Dominika Seblova and Andrea Tenorio and Dinarte Ballester and Burrone, \{Mar{\'i}a S.\} and Rub{\'e}n Alvarado and Julian Santaella-Tenorio and Uta Ouali and Anna Isahakyan and Jutta Lindert and Sapag, \{Jaime C.\} and Ram{\'i}rez, \{Dorian E.\} and Lubna Alnasser and Eliut Rivera-Segarra and Arin Balalian and Roberto Mediavilla and \{van der Ven\}, Els",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2025.",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1017/gmh.2025.10067",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

pages = "1--11",

journal = "Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health",

issn = "2054-4251",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

}

Basic, D , Czepiel, D, Hoek, HW, Martínez, AM, McCormack, C, Susser, ES, Mascayano, F, Moro, MF, Carta, MG, Martínez-Alés, G, Fernández-Jiménez, E, Barathie, JAI, Karam, EG, Nishi, D, Asaoka, H, Ayinde, O, Gureje, O, Afolabi, O, Olaopa, O, Ramírez, J, Basagoitia, A, Soto, MTS, Durand-Arias, S, Šeblová, J, Seblova, D, Tenorio, A, Ballester, D, Burrone, MS, Alvarado, R, Santaella-Tenorio, J, Ouali, U, Isahakyan, A, Lindert, J, Sapag, JC, Ramírez, DE, Alnasser, L, Rivera-Segarra, E, Balalian, A, Mediavilla, R & van der Ven, E 2025, 'Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers', Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, vol. 12, e130, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2025.10067

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis

T2 - Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers

AU - Basic, Djordje

AU - Czepiel, Diana

AU - Hoek, Hans W.

AU - Martínez, Adriana M.

AU - McCormack, Clare

AU - Susser, Ezra S.

AU - Mascayano, Franco

AU - Moro, Maria F.

AU - Carta, Mauro G.

AU - Martínez-Alés, Gonzalo

AU - Fernández-Jiménez, Eduardo

AU - Barathie, Josleen A.I.

AU - Karam, Elie G.

AU - Nishi, Daisuke

AU - Asaoka, Hiroki

AU - Ayinde, Olatunde

AU - Gureje, Oye

AU - Afolabi, Oyeyemi

AU - Olaopa, Olusegun

AU - Ramírez, Jorge

AU - Basagoitia, Armando

AU - Soto, María T.S.

AU - Durand-Arias, Sol

AU - Šeblová, Jana

AU - Seblova, Dominika

AU - Tenorio, Andrea

AU - Ballester, Dinarte

AU - Burrone, María S.

AU - Alvarado, Rubén

AU - Santaella-Tenorio, Julian

AU - Ouali, Uta

AU - Isahakyan, Anna

AU - Lindert, Jutta

AU - Sapag, Jaime C.

AU - Ramírez, Dorian E.

AU - Alnasser, Lubna

AU - Rivera-Segarra, Eliut

AU - Balalian, Arin

AU - Mediavilla, Roberto

AU - van der Ven, Els

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Previous research has highlighted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers’ (HCWs) mental health, yet protective factors remain underexplored. Emerging studies emphasize the importance of trust in government and interpersonal relationships in reducing infections and fostering positive vaccine attitudes. This study investigates the relationship between HCWs’ trust in the workplace and government and depressive symptoms during the pandemic. The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS study surveyed 32,410 HCWs from 22 countries, including clinical and nonclinical staff. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and ad-hoc questions assessing trust in the workplace and government. Logistic regression and multilevel models examined associations between trust levels and depressive symptoms. High workplace trust (OR = 0.72 [0.68, 0.76]) and government trust (OR = 0.72 [0.69, 0.76]) were linked to lower odds of depressive symptoms, with significant between-country variation. Country-level analyses showed that workplace trust was more protective in more developed countries and under stricter COVID-19 restrictions. Despite cross-country variation, HCWs with higher trust in the workplace and government had ~28% lower odds of experiencing depressive symptoms compared to those with lower trust. Promoting trust may help mitigate the mental health impact of future crises on HCWs.

AB - Previous research has highlighted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers’ (HCWs) mental health, yet protective factors remain underexplored. Emerging studies emphasize the importance of trust in government and interpersonal relationships in reducing infections and fostering positive vaccine attitudes. This study investigates the relationship between HCWs’ trust in the workplace and government and depressive symptoms during the pandemic. The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS study surveyed 32,410 HCWs from 22 countries, including clinical and nonclinical staff. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and ad-hoc questions assessing trust in the workplace and government. Logistic regression and multilevel models examined associations between trust levels and depressive symptoms. High workplace trust (OR = 0.72 [0.68, 0.76]) and government trust (OR = 0.72 [0.69, 0.76]) were linked to lower odds of depressive symptoms, with significant between-country variation. Country-level analyses showed that workplace trust was more protective in more developed countries and under stricter COVID-19 restrictions. Despite cross-country variation, HCWs with higher trust in the workplace and government had ~28% lower odds of experiencing depressive symptoms compared to those with lower trust. Promoting trust may help mitigate the mental health impact of future crises on HCWs.

KW - COVID-19

KW - cross-country

KW - depression

KW - healthcare workers

KW - trust

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019071665

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019071665#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1017/gmh.2025.10067

DO - 10.1017/gmh.2025.10067

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105019071665

SN - 2054-4251

VL - 12

SP - 1

EP - 11

JO - Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health

JF - Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health

M1 - e130

ER -

Trusting in times of the COVID-19 crisis: Workplace and government trust and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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