How inclusive leadership paves way for psychological well‐being of employees during trauma and crisis: A three‐wave longitudinal mediation study

Aims Nurses are at the forefront of public health emergencies facing psychological pressures ensuing from the loss of patients and potential risk of infection while treating the infected. This study examines whether inclusive leadership has a causal relationship with psychological distress and to assess the mediation effect of psychological safety on this relationship in the long run. The hypotheses are developed and interpreted with the help of theoretical underpinnings from job demands resources theory and the theory of shattered assumptions. Design Three‐wave longitudinal study. Methods Questionnaire was used to carry out three waves of data collection from 405 nurses employed at five hospitals in Wuhan during the COVID‐19 outbreak between the months of January–April 2020. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) was used to analyze data while controlling for age, gender, education, experience, and working hours. Results Results supported the hypothesized relationships where inclusive leadership indicated significant inverse causal relationship with psychological distress and a positive causal relationship with psychological safety. Mediation effect of psychological safety was found significant, while the model explained 73.9% variance in psychological distress. Conclusion Inclusive leadership, through its positive and supportive characteristics, can pave way for such mechanisms that improve the psychological safety of employees in the long run and curbs psychological distress. Impact This is the first longitudinal study to examine the relationship between inclusive leadership and psychological distress in health care and also examines the mediating mechanism of psychology safety. There is scarcity of empirical research on factors that determine and affect behavioural mechanism of healthcare workers during traumatic events and crisis. Clinical leaders and healthcare policy makers must invest in and promote inclusive and supportive environment characterized with open and accessible leaders at workplace to improve psychological safety; it helps reduce levels of psychological distress. 摘要 目的 护士处于公共卫生紧急情况的最前沿,面临着因患者流失以及在治疗被感染者时潜在的感染风险而产生的心理压力。该研究审查了包容性领导是否对心理困扰具有因果关系,并从长远角度评估心理安全对因果关系的调解作用。该假设的发展和理解与工作需求资源理论和分离假设理论有关。 设计 三波纵向研究。 方法 从2020年1月到4月,新冠疫情爆发期间,募集了武汉五家医院的405名护士,采用问卷调查的形式进行三波数据采集。采用偏最小二乘法结构方程模型(PLS‐SEM),分析数据,同时控制年龄、性别、学历、经验和工作时间。 结果 结果支持该假设关系,其中心理困扰和包容型领导呈反因果关系,而和心理安全呈正因果关系。心理安全的中间效果尤为重要,而该模型表明心理困扰的变化率为73.9%。 结论 由于具有积极和支撑性特点,包容型领导