Moral Injury and Moral Self-Image in Healthcare Workers: Centrality of Event as a Moderator
Summary
Moral Injury (MI) is a construct that refers to the severe distress, and functional impairments individuals may experience after exposure to traumatic events violating their moral beliefs and values. MI, encompassing two dimensions, MI-Self (violations by oneself) and MI- Others (violations by others), may conflict with one’s morals and challenge their moral integrity and self which may lead to developing adverse psychological outcomes. There is growing recognition of MI in healthcare, and the present study aimed to widen the scope of MI and its possible associations with different psychological constructs in a healthcare context. A simple regression analysis was conducted between MI (with MI-Self and MI-Others independently) and moral self-image, to see if MI did challenge one’s moral integrity and influence their moral self- image, as well as a moderation analysis between MI (X), moral self-image (Y), and centrality of (morally injurious) event (M). Additionally, a multiple regression analysis was performed to explore the association of these three separate variables to PTSD. 95 participants completed an online survey with five questionnaires on MI and psychological well-being. Results showed significant positive association between MI and moral self-image (for the subscales, same results only for MI-Others), and nonsignificant moderation of centrality of event, and MI and centrality of event significantly predicted PTSD, while moral self-image was nonsignificant. Further research is needed to understand these associations better.