Song M, Yan FJ, Liu YQ, Shen W, Han J, Mao SY. Correlation between social alienation and psychological resilience in patients with multidrug-resistant organism infections under protective isolation. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(5): 119366 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i5.119366]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mei Song, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 1218 Tiyu South Road, Jiaxing 314100, Zhejiang Province, China. songmeiarticle@163.com
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Psychiatry
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Retrospective Study
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May 19, 2026 (publication date) through May 5, 2026
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World Journal of Psychiatry
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2220-3206
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Song M, Yan FJ, Liu YQ, Shen W, Han J, Mao SY. Correlation between social alienation and psychological resilience in patients with multidrug-resistant organism infections under protective isolation. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(5): 119366 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i5.119366]
World J Psychiatry. May 19, 2026; 16(5): 119366 Published online May 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i5.119366
Correlation between social alienation and psychological resilience in patients with multidrug-resistant organism infections under protective isolation
Mei Song, Fu-Jian Yan, Yu-Qin Liu, Wei Shen, Jia Han, Si-Yu Mao
Mei Song, Fu-Jian Yan, Wei Shen, Jia Han, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jiaxing 314100, Zhejiang Province, China
Yu-Qin Liu, Department of Psychology, The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jiaxing 314100, Zhejiang Province, China
Si-Yu Mao, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jiaxing 314100, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Song M conceived and designed the study, supervised the overall research process, and drafted the manuscript; Yan FJ, Shen W, and Han J participated in data collection, patient screening, and clinical data verification; Liu YQ was responsible for psychological assessment implementation and scoring of the General Alienation Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale instruments; Mao SY contributed to laboratory data extraction and multidrug-resistant organisms infection confirmation; all authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (No. 2025-106).
Informed consent statement: The requirement for written informed consent was waived by the Medical Ethics Committee of The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (No. 2025-106), as this was a retrospective study based on anonymized data obtained from routine clinical records and involved no additional risk to patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: De-identified participant data are available from the corresponding author (songmeiarticle@163.com) upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Mei Song, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First People’s Hospital of Jiashan/Jiashan Branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 1218 Tiyu South Road, Jiaxing 314100, Zhejiang Province, China. songmeiarticle@163.com
Received: March 6, 2026 Revised: April 9, 2026 Accepted: April 24, 2026 Published online: May 19, 2026 Processing time: 54 Days and 1.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Although protective isolation measures are commonly used to control multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) transmission in healthcare settings, reducing social contacts often leads to social alienation for patients under isolation, which may lead to negative emotions and negatively affect recovery. Psychological resilience may protect against these effects; however, the relationship between psychological resilience and social alienation in isolated MDROs patients has not yet been studied. This study was aimed to assess social alienation of MDROs patients undergoing protective isolation and its correlation with psychological resilience.
AIM
To address the current situation of social alienation in patients with infected MDROs under protective isolation, and explore its relations to psychological resilience.
METHODS
This study retrospectively investigated the clinical data and psychological assessment of 289 patients with MDROs infections who were placed on protective isolation in our hospital between January, 2020 and March, 2025. Social alienation was measured with the General Alienation Scale, and psychological resilience was assessed by the Chinese version of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. The correlation between social alienation and psychological resilience was evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the influencing factors of social alienation.
RESULTS
The patients’ total social alienation score (29.87 ± 6.52) was at a moderate level, and 76.47% of the patients reported moderate or higher levels of social alienation. The mean general psychological resilience score was (56.34 ± 15.28). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the total score of social alienation was negatively correlated with the total score of psychological resilience (r = -0.463, P < 0.001), tenacity dimension (r = -0.448), strength dimension (r = -0.421) and optimism dimension (r = -0.386) (all P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that low frequency of family visits, high duration of isolation, low level of education, low level of tenacity and low level of optimism as independent factors associated with social alienation (all P < 0.001), which accounted 49.8% variance in total.
CONCLUSION
Patients with MDROs infection who underwent protective isolation experienced moderate degrees of social alienation that were negatively correlated with psychological resilience. Between clinical attention to the psychological state of patients with long isolation, fewer family visits and lower educational level and implement methods to improve psychological resilience and reduce social alienation.
Core Tip: Patients with multidrug-resistant organism infections often undergo protective isolation, which may adversely affect their psychosocial well-being. This study demonstrates that social alienation is prevalent among isolated patients and is moderately negatively correlated with psychological resilience. Lower family visit frequency, prolonged isolation, and lower educational level were associated with higher alienation, while greater tenacity and optimism were protective factors. These findings highlight the importance of integrating resilience-enhancing psychological interventions into the care of patients under protective isolation.
