Post-Traumatic Growth and Professional Fulfillment Among Healthcare Workers After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study in Japan

Objectives To examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between post-traumatic growth (PTG) and professional fulfillment among healthcare workers after the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine whether PTG is associated with subsequent professional fulfillment. Methods This two-wave cohort study surveyed healthcare workers in Japan from March 8 to 31, 2024 (first survey) and from November 19 to December 20, 2024 (second survey). The outcome was professional fulfillment as measured by subscale of the Professional Fulfillment Index, and independent variable was PTG as measured by a short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Cross-sectional associations between PTG and professional fulfillment were examined using multivariable linear regression. Longitudinal associations were tested using baseline-adjusted regression models with bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap confidence intervals (5,000 resamples). Results A total of 1,346 participants completed the first survey and 528 completed the second survey; 188 completed both. PTG was positively associated with professional fulfillment cross-sectionally in the first survey (B = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.06–0.08; p < 0.01). In baseline-adjusted longitudinal analysis, PTG in the first survey was associated with subsequent professional fulfillment in the second survey (B = 0.025; 95% BCa CI, 0.001–0.048; p = 0.048). Conclusions PTG was consistently associated with professional fulfillment among healthcare workers in the post-pandemic period, and higher PTG prospectively associated greater subsequent professional fulfillment. These findings are significant in demonstrating that PTG can be a meaningful focus for promoting professional fulfillment in healthcare workers after a public health crisis.