COVID-19 Anxiety-A Longitudinal Survey Study of Psychological and Situational Risks Among Finnish Workers

Overview

Journal Int J Environ Res Public Health

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Environmental Health
Public Health

Date 2021 Jan 22

PMID 33477756

Citations 34

Authors

Iina Savolainen

Reetta Oksa

Nina Savela

Magdalena Celuch

Atte Oksanen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

: The COVID-19 crisis has changed the conditions of many all over the globe. One negative consequence of the ongoing pandemic is anxiety brought about by uncertainty and the COVID-19 disease. Increased anxiety is a potential risk factor for wellbeing at work. This study investigated psychological, situational, and socio-demographic predictors of COVID-19 anxiety using longitudinal data. : A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers ( = 1308) was collected before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Eighty percent of the participants responded to the follow-up study ( = 1044). COVID-19 anxiety was measured with a modified Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Psychological and situational predictors included perceived loneliness, psychological distress, technostress, personality, social support received from the work community, and remote working. A number of socio-demographic factors were also investigated. : Perceived loneliness, psychological distress, technostress, and neuroticism were identified as robust psychological predictors of COVID-19 anxiety. Increase in psychological distress and technostress during the COVID-19 crisis predicted higher COVID-19 anxiety. A recent change in their field of work and decreased social support from work communities predicted COVID-19 anxiety. Women and young people experienced higher anxiety. : Different factors explain workers' COVID-19 anxiety. Increased anxiety can disrupt wellbeing at work, emphasizing the organizations' role in maintaining an inclusive and caring work culture and providing technical and psychological support to workers during crisis.

Citing Articles

Women's mental health and COVID-19: increased vulnerability and inequalities.

Arilha M, Carvalho A, Forster T, Rodrigues C, Briguglio B, Serruya S Front Glob Womens Health. 2024; 5:1414355.

PMID: 39416672 PMC: 11480059. DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1414355.

Predictive relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McMahon J, Dowling K, Gallagher E, Donnellan A, Houghton S, Ryan M Front Psychol. 2024; 14:1095892.

PMID: 39364268 PMC: 11447965. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1095892.

Assessment of mental health of university students faced with different lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, a repeated cross-sectional study.

Essadek A, Gressier F, Krebs T, Corruble E, Falissard B, Rabeyron T Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2024; 13(2):2141510.

PMID: 38872601 PMC: 9677981. DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2141510.

The effect of yin yoga intervention on state and trait anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Somere K, Munkevics M, Krams R, Raca G, Luoto S, Krams I Front Psychiatry. 2024; 15:1345455.

PMID: 38550540 PMC: 10973109. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1345455.

COVID-19 impacts in Northernmost Finland.

Timlin U, Rautio A Int J Circumpolar Health. 2024; 83(1):2314368.

PMID: 38359161 PMC: 10877646. DOI: 10.1080/22423982.2024.2314368.

References

Fernandez R, Crivelli L, Magrath Guimet N, Allegri R, Pedreira M . Psychological distress associated with COVID-19 quarantine: Latent profile analysis, outcome prediction and mediation analysis. J Affect Disord. 2020; 277:75-84. PMC: 7413121. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.133. View

Horesh D, Kapel Lev-Ari R, Hasson-Ohayon I . Risk factors for psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel: Loneliness, age, gender, and health status play an important role. Br J Health Psychol. 2020; 25(4):925-933. PMC: 7404907. DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12455. View

Salari N, Hosseinian-Far A, Jalali R, Vaisi-Raygani A, Rasoulpoor S, Mohammadi M . Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Health. 2020; 16(1):57. PMC: 7338126. DOI: 10.1186/s12992-020-00589-w. View

Wielgus B, Urban W, Patriak A, Cichocki L . Examining the Associations between Psychological Flexibility, Mindfulness, Psychosomatic Functioning, and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Path Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(23). PMC: 7728363. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17238764. View

Tiirinki H, Tynkkynen L, Sovala M, Atkins S, Koivusalo M, Rautiainen P . COVID-19 pandemic in Finland - Preliminary analysis on health system response and economic consequences. Health Policy Technol. 2020; 9(4):649-662. PMC: 7451008. DOI: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.08.005. View

Lee S . Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Stud. 2020; 44(7):393-401. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481. View

Wang B, Liu Y, Qian J, Parker S . Achieving Effective Remote Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Work Design Perspective. Appl Psychol. 2020; 70(1):16-59. PMC: 7675760. DOI: 10.1111/apps.12290. View

Evanoff B, Strickland J, Dale A, Hayibor L, Page E, Duncan J . Work-Related and Personal Factors Associated With Mental Well-Being During the COVID-19 Response: Survey of Health Care and Other Workers. J Med Internet Res. 2020; 22(8):e21366. PMC: 7470175. DOI: 10.2196/21366. View

Rettie H, Daniels J . Coping and tolerance of uncertainty: Predictors and mediators of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Am Psychol. 2020; 76(3):427-437. DOI: 10.1037/amp0000710. View

10.

Russell D, Peplau L, Cutrona C . The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1980; 39(3):472-80. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.39.3.472. View

11.

Pradhan M, Chettri A, Maheshwari S . Fear of death in the shadow of COVID-19: The mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between neuroticism and death anxiety. Death Stud. 2020; 46(5):1106-1110. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1833384. View

12.

Chen H, Eyoun K . Do mindfulness and perceived organizational support work? Fear of COVID-19 on restaurant frontline employees' job insecurity and emotional exhaustion. Int J Hosp Manag. 2021; 94:102850. PMC: 8586797. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102850. View

13.

Malesza M, Kaczmarek M . Predictors of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Pers Individ Dif. 2020; 170:110419. PMC: 7545237. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110419. View

14.

Pakenham K, Landi G, Boccolini G, Furlani A, Grandi S, Tossani E . The moderating roles of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on the mental health impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in Italy. J Contextual Behav Sci. 2020; 17:109-118. PMC: 7370913. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.07.003. View

15.

Gostin L, Wiley L . Governmental Public Health Powers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stay-at-home Orders, Business Closures, and Travel Restrictions. JAMA. 2020; 323(21):2137-2138. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.5460. View

16.

Richter A . Locked-down digital work. Int J Inf Manage. 2020; 55:102157. PMC: 7263207. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102157. View

17.

Zhang X, Huang Q, Wang X, Cheng X, Li Z, Wang Z . Prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms, and association with epidemic-related factors during the epidemic period of COVID-19 among 123,768 workers in China: A large cross-sectional study. J Affect Disord. 2020; 277:495-502. PMC: 7448744. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.041. View

18.

Zajenkowski M, Jonason P, Leniarska M, Kozakiewicz Z . Who complies with the restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19?: Personality and perceptions of the COVID-19 situation. Pers Individ Dif. 2020; 166:110199. PMC: 7296320. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110199. View

19.

Mosheva M, Hertz-Palmor N, Dorman Ilan S, Matalon N, Pessach I, Afek A . Anxiety, pandemic-related stress and resilience among physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depress Anxiety. 2020; 37(10):965-971. PMC: 7436709. DOI: 10.1002/da.23085. View

20.

Ran L, Wang W, Ai M, Kong Y, Chen J, Kuang L . Psychological resilience, depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms in response to COVID-19: A study of the general population in China at the peak of its epidemic. Soc Sci Med. 2020; 262:113261. PMC: 7388777. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113261. View