Predictors of resilience in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study comparing the first and second waves Mendoza Bernal, Irhomis Sánchez Teruel, David Robles‑Bello, María Auxiliadora Sarhani Robles, Aziz Sarhani‑Robles, Mariam Emotional intelligence Self-efficacy Optimism Resilience Healthcare workers COVID-19 Protection factors Risk factors Few studies have investigated the effects of the pandemic caused by COVID‑19 on health professionals, especially nurses, from the point of view of the protective factors of mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the level of resilience in healthcare workers, to determine whether there were differences between two moments of the pandemic. Applying a longitudinal study, participants (N = 590) from healthcare workers completed surveys in the first wave of the COVID‑19 pandemic and the second wave. Socio‑demographic and psychosocial variables such as resilience, emotional intelligence, optimism, self‑efficacy, anxiety, and depression are used. There were differences between the two waves in all protective and risk variables except anxiety. In the first wave, there were three socio‑ demographic and psychosocial variables that explained 67.1% of the variance in resilience. In the first wave, three sociodemographic and psychosocial variables explained 67.1% of the variance in resilience in healthcare profes‑ sionals. The enhancement of specific protective variables in healthcare professionals exposed to situations of high emotional stress can minimise the negative impact of the situation and promote more resilient responses in this professional group as a result. 2023-06-12T09:54:56Z 2023-06-12T09:54:56Z 2023-05-02 journal article Mendoza Bernal et al. Predictors of resilience in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study comparing the first and second waves. BMC Psychology (2023) 11:143 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01077-7] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/82342 10.1186/s40359-023-01077-7 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Springer Nature