摘要：The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges to healthcare professionals (HCP) who face morally challenging and life-threatening decisions while working with limited human, knowledge and medical resources. Following exposure to events that transgress moral beliefs and expectations, HCP might experience psychological, social, and spiritual problems referred to as Moral Injury (MI). The present study examined patterns of exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) among HCP as well as mental health outcomes and psychological correlates of exposure. Method: A sample of 243 Israeli HCP volunteered to complete a cross-sectional electronic survey with validated self-report questionnaires in 2021. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to identify classes characterized by unique patterns of exposure to PMIEs and compare differences in mental health and psychological variables. Results: Three subgroups were identified: Moral Injury (18.8%), Betrayal-Only (30.3%), and Minimal Exposure (50.9%). Both the moral injury class and the betrayal-only class reported higher levels of perceived stress, posttraumatic symptoms, and more moral injury symptoms as compared to the minimal exposure class. Importantly, only the moral injury class reported lower levels of self-compassion and higher levels of self-criticism relative to those in the minimal exposure class. Conclusions: The study’s findings offer an overview of the complex associations between patterns of exposure to PMIEs and associated outcomes. Clinicians treating HCP coping with the COVID-19 related stress should be aware of the contribution of exposure to PMIEs to HCPs’ distress and to the unique constellation of high selfcriticism and low self-compassion among HCP with moral injury and betrayal exposures.
