Anxiety symptoms and burnout among Chinese medical staff of intensive care unit: the moderating effect of social support

Social support can be a critical resource to help medical staff cope with stressful events; however, the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between burnout and anxiety symptoms has not yet been explored. The final sample was comprised of 514 intensive care unit physicians and nurses in this cross-sectional study. Questionnaires were used to collect data. A moderated model was used to test the effect of social support. The moderating effect of social support was found to be significant (b = − 0.06, p = 0.04, 95%CI [− 0.12, − 0.01]). The Johnson-Neyman technique indicated that when social support scores were above 4.26 among intensive care unit medical staff, burnout was not related to anxiety symptoms. This is the first study to test the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between burnout and anxiety symptoms among intensive care unit staff.