Background: To analyze the latent profiles and influencing factors of psychological capital of midwives, and to explore the core competencies of midwives with different profiles. Methods: From July 5 to July 19, 2024, a cross-sectional study was conducted using convenience sampling to recruit 965 midwives from Jiangsu Province, China. The Demographics Questionnaire, Positive Psycap Questionnaire, and Midwife Core Competency Scale were used for investigation. Data analysis was performed using latent profile analysis, univariate analysis, multinomial logistic regression analysis, and the Kruskal–Wallis H -test. Results: The psychological capital of midwives can be classified into three profiles: low psychological capital - balanced group (C1) (56.37%), medium psychological capital - low tenacity group (C2) (21.97%), and high psychological capital - balanced group (C3) (21.66%). Compared to C1, midwives working in general hospitals were more likely to belong to C2 ( aORs = 1.820, 95% CI : 1.213– 2.729, P 0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed heterogeneity in the psychological capital of midwives. Targeted interventions, such as Psychological Capital Intervention (PCI) strategies, should be primarily applied to the C1 group to enhance their self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and core competency levels. Concurrently, the emotional contagion and role-modeling effects of the C3 group should be leveraged. When resources permit, efforts should also be made to improve the tenacity level of the C2 group. Keywords: midwife, psychological capital, core competency, latent profile analysis
Ni et al. (Sun,) studied this question.