International Emergency Nursing, cilt.81, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected not only people's daily lives but also their interpersonal relationships. Aims: It is aimed to evaluate the anxiety levels and ways of distress tolerance of female and male nurses in terms of their interpersonal relationship styles during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: This descriptive and comparative study was conducted with 525 nurses. Interpersonal Relationship Styles Scale (IRSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) were used to collect study data. Results: A significant difference was found between male and female nurses in terms of BAI (p > 0.05) and DTS (p > 0.05) scale scores. A weak, positive and statistically significant relationship was found between IRSS, dominant, avoidant, insensitive, manipulative, belittling styles and BAI in women. Conclusion: It was found that the anxiety scores of female nurses were higher than those of male nurses, while male nurses had higher distress tolerance scale scores than female nurses. Implications for nursing practice and policies: Therapeutic and gender-sensitive interventions that strengthen nurses’ interpersonal relationship skills during crises can reduce distress and anxiety, improve team communication, and support emotional resilience in clinical settings.