Positive psychological capital in health professionals: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Abstract | Introduction: Health organisations need to attract and retain health professionals as well as protect and improve their mental health following the premises of positive psychology, particularly with regard to positive psychological capital. Objective: This review aimed to map studies that addressed positive psychological capital in empirical research with samples of health professionals. Method: A systematic literature review of articles addressing positive psychological capital in samples of physicians and nurses was conducted. The search for primary studies was carried out in April 2023, in the databases: PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Nursing & Allied Health Collection, Scopus and Web of Science. Results: 20 articles were included in the review in which the main concepts with which positive psychological capital was related were analysed, according to their nature, positive or negative, observing the role that positive psychological capital assumed as a variable, the instruments used to measure this concept and the statistical analysis performed. Conclusions: Positive psychological capital was positively associated with work engagement, perceived organisational support, intention to stay, positive aspects of the work environment, innovative behaviours, and leader-member exchange. Furthermore, this concept was negatively related to work stressors, emotional exhaustion, and psychological distress. The main gap highlighted in the primary studies was the use of cross-sectional designs, which prevent the inference of causality. These results reinforce the need for an intervention with regards to physicians and nurses based on the development of positive psychological capital