Open Access

ARTICLE

Gender Differences in Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress among Taiwanese Nurses

Catherine Clarissa^1,2, Chien Chen³, Lissette Aviles¹, Lu-Yen Anny Chen^4,*
1 Nursing Studies, School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
2 Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP), School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
3 School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
4 Institute of Clinical Nursing, College of Nursing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
* Corresponding Author: Lu-Yen Anny Chen. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Exploring the Psychological Impact of Disasters and Emergency Events)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.086388

Received 29 May 2026; Accepted 14 August 2026; Published online 15 September 2026

Abstract

Background: Gender may shape how nurses experience occupational exposure, psychosocial burden, and psychological distress during infectious disease emergencies. This study examined gender-related differences in pandemic experiences, and psychological distress among nurses in Taiwan. Methods: This secondary analysis used online survey data collected from January to June 2021. After excluding three gender-code-3 respondents, 2698 nurses remained. Gender comparisons used standard or Welch t-tests, the Mann–Whitney U test, and chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, as appropriate. Hierarchical and gender-stratified linear regressions used listwise deletion, treated “I don’t know” responses as missing, and reported robust standard errors. Results: Participants included 2519 women and 179 men. Male nurses more frequently self-reported screening or treating suspected cases and directly caring for suspected or confirmed patients; female nurses reported greater infection worry and family/friend avoidance. Total Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IESR) scores did not differ by gender. In the fully adjusted complete-case model (N = 1557), gender was not associated with IES-R score (B = 0.48, 95% CI −2.26 to 3.22; p = 0.732), whereas each one-point increase in infection worry was associated with a 5.33-point higher score (95% CI 4.67 to 5.99; p < 0.001). The latter association was statistically significant, but clinical significance was not formally assessed because no prespecified clinically meaningful threshold was used. Adding psychosocial variables increased R² by 0.201 (p < 0.001), yielding final R² = 0.275. Stratified models identified infection worry in both genders and additional psychosocial correlates among women; coefficient differences were not formally tested. Conclusions: Gender-related differences were more evident in exposure and psychosocial burden than in overall distress. Nursing management should ensure equitable high-exposure assignments and provide needs-based support addressing infection worry, stigma, and social isolation.

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Keywords

Gender; COVID-19; nurses; psychological distress; Taiwan

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