Table_2_Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of clinical psychologists in Austria: results of a mixed-methods study.DOCX

IntroductionClinical psychologists in Austria shouldered a large part of the massive increase in demand for mental health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to find out how the pandemic affected their work and to gather information on how best to support the profession in the event of a crisis.
MethodsN = 172 Austrian clinical psychologists participated in a cross-sectional online survey between 11 April 2022 and 31 May 2022, including both closed and open-ended questions about their work. Open-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A mixed-methods analysis was conducted to test correlations between the categories derived from the qualitative analysis and professional variables.
ResultsThe analyses revealed that clinical psychologists, especially those with more years of experience, perceived an increased need for clinical psychological treatment, especially for children and adolescents, a lack of coverage for clinical psychological treatment by health insurance, a change to remote treatment formats, and a number of burdens associated with complying with COVID-19 measures.
DiscussionClinical psychologists reported an urgent need to increase resources in both outpatient and inpatient settings and to promote health insurance coverage. To support the clinical psychology profession in providing high-quality work in times of crisis, there is a need to facilitate more opportunities for team and peer exchange, as well as financial support in the event of loss of income.

引言：奥地利的临床心理学家承担了新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）引发的心理健康服务需求大幅增长中的主要部分。本研究旨在探究疫情对其临床工作的影响，并收集相关信息，以便在未来危机事件中为该行业提供最优支持方案。
方法：本研究于2022年4月11日至2022年5月31日期间开展横断面线上调查，共纳入172名奥地利临床心理学家作为研究对象，问卷包含与临床工作相关的封闭式与开放式问题。采用质性内容分析（qualitative content analysis）法对开放式问题进行分析，并通过混合研究分析（mixed-methods analysis）检验质性分析所得类别与职业相关变量间的相关性。
结果：分析结果显示，临床心理学家（尤其是从业年限较长者）感知到临床心理治疗需求显著攀升，尤其集中于儿童与青少年群体；同时发现健康保险未覆盖临床心理治疗服务、治疗形式转向远程诊疗模式，以及遵守新冠防疫措施带来的多重工作负担。
讨论：临床心理学家呼吁亟需增加门诊与住院诊疗场景的资源投入，并推动健康保险对临床心理治疗服务的覆盖。为支持临床心理学行业在危机时期提供高质量服务，亟需为从业者提供更多团队与同行交流的机会，并在其收入受损时提供财政支持。