Identifying factors related to healthcare professionals' mental health has become an imperative topic for offering mental health services to foster their psychological functioning. This study, for the first time, examined the mediating role of optimism and pessimism in the association between parental coronavirus anxiety and depression among Turkish healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 429 healthcare professionals whose age ranged between 22 and 61 years (50.3% female; M = 36.65, SD = 7.0). Results from mediation analysis revealed that parental coronavirus anxiety had a significant predictive effect on optimism, pessimism, and depression. Optimism and pessimism also had significant predictive effects on depression. Most importantly, optimism and pessimism mitigated the adverse impact of parental coronavirus anxiety on healthcare professionals' depression. The findings suggest that optimism is an essential source in reducing depression symptoms in the face of parental coronavirus experiences. Decision-makers and health organizations may integrate strength-based approaches into their guidelines to address parental coronavirus anxiety and depression.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; depression; healthcare professionals; optimism; parental coronavirus anxiety; pessimism.