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Top1. Introduction
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2019 continues to attract worldwide attention (Wang, Horby, Hayden, 2020). To date, COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in more than 200 countries around the world, and it has become a public health emergency of international concern (Hu, Li, He, Wang, Wei, Yin, & Chen, 2020). COVID-19 was a top priority on the world's agenda for the last three years since the first case was declared in the Chinese city of Wuhan on December 31, 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has spread and become a global pandemic. According to the latest statistics, there are now 414,525,183 cases and 5,832,333 death all over the world, and a number of 262570 reported cases and 6753 deaths in Algeria (WHO, 2021). These current conditions are usually characterized as a time of dynamic changes. The new world, shaped in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, dictates new requirements for people of helping professions and, above all, for medical staff (Ibragimova & Isupov, 2018).
Typically, the effect of disease outbreaks is not limited to essential activities of individuals and economic status but rather is extended to emotional well-being (Restubog, Ocampo, & Wang, 2020; McKibbin & Fernando, 2020; Smith, Keogh-Brown, & Barnett, 2011), especially for medical staff and health workers. Existing literature shows that an outbreak of a contagious disease can be associated with mental health problems (Priede, et al., 2021), persisting psychological distress (Tam, Pang, Lam, & Chiu, 2004), post-traumatic stress disorder (Carmassi, et al., 2020), higher rates of depression (Ho, Chee, & Ho, 2020), anxiety (Jeong, et al., 2016), and stress (Mihashi, et al., 2009) among general population and more occasionally for medical staff involved in treating patients (Janiri, et al., 2020: 2).
In light of the massive outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, the medical staff and various health workers became on the front lines of the response to the pandemic. It has been affecting every health area in an unprecedented way since the 1918 influenza pandemic. (Carrasco, et al., 2021:117). The precautionary measures followed increased the feelings of fear and anxiety. These feelings have become the dominant features in most aspects of life, as people became suspicious of everything, including their relatives and those closest to them (Rana, Mukhtar, & Mukhtar, 2020). In this emergent situation, medical staff faced unprecedented psychological, physical, and occupational pressures during the initial period of the outbreak of Covid-19; not only due to the fact that the infection among medical staff and other health sector workers has risen sharply (WHO, 2020); but also because they have become responsible for rescuing increasing patients during a very tense time.
These changes and pressures may weaken the endeavor of the medical staff and negatively affect their performance. They also may not be able to control themselves and their desires and even about making the right decisions regarding the health of patients. All of this affected and is still affecting the mental health of the medical staff. There are several sources of stress and tension for the medical staff, which may lead those who lack emotional regulation to search for external sources to provide emotional stability and help them alleviate psychological problems (Bani Younis, 2009). Before reviewing previous related studies, a brief description of emotional regulation in the workplace is given in the next section.