Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Demands, Resources, and Mental Wellbeing

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2023 Jan 30

PMID 36710793

Authors

Tabea Eleonore Scheel

Lydia Bendixen

Jakub Prochazka

Daniela Acquadro Maran

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between working conditions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) and employees' mental wellbeing. According to the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, work intensification, increased difficulty in accomplishing work tasks, heightened risk of infection by COVID-19, and increasingly working from home may detrimentally relate to irritation. However, personal and job resources (e.g., occupational self-efficacy, social support) may buffer. Data from 680 employees from four European countries were analyzed by means of path analyses and polynomial regression. Work intensification was significantly positively associated with cognitive and affective irritation; other job demands were not. However, working from home prior to as well as during the pandemic was related to higher cognitive irritation. None of the moderators was of meaningful significance. Reducing work intensification as well as enduring home office seems to be crucial for interventions.

Citing Articles

Work engagement and sense of coherence as predictors of psychological distress during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.

Gomez-Salgado J, Delgado-Garcia D, Ortega-Moreno M, Fagundo-Rivera J, El Khoury-Moreno L, Vilches-Arenas A Heliyon. 2024; 10(10):e31327.

PMID: 38803934 PMC: 11128991. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31327.

References

Hobfoll S . Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. Am Psychol. 1989; 44(3):513-24. DOI: 10.1037//0003-066x.44.3.513. View

Gajendran R, Harrison D . The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. J Appl Psychol. 2007; 92(6):1524-41. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524. View

Crawford E, LePine J, Rich B . Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: a theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. J Appl Psychol. 2010; 95(5):834-48. DOI: 10.1037/a0019364. View

Sun N, Wei L, Shi S, Jiao D, Song R, Ma L . A qualitative study on the psychological experience of caregivers of COVID-19 patients. Am J Infect Control. 2020; 48(6):592-598. PMC: 7141468. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.03.018. View

Spagnoli P, Molino M, Molinaro D, Giancaspro M, Manuti A, Ghislieri C . Workaholism and Technostress During the COVID-19 Emergency: The Crucial Role of the Leaders on Remote Working. Front Psychol. 2021; 11:620310. PMC: 7786603. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.620310. View

Chong S, Huang Y, Chang C . Supporting interdependent telework employees: A moderated-mediation model linking daily COVID-19 task setbacks to next-day work withdrawal. J Appl Psychol. 2020; 105(12):1408-1422. DOI: 10.1037/apl0000843. View

Van Bavel J, Baicker K, Boggio P, Capraro V, Cichocka A, Cikara M . Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nat Hum Behav. 2020; 4(5):460-471. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z. View

Mo Y, Deng L, Zhang L, Lang Q, Liao C, Wang N . Work stress among Chinese nurses to support Wuhan in fighting against COVID-19 epidemic. J Nurs Manag. 2020; 28(5):1002-1009. PMC: 7262235. DOI: 10.1111/jonm.13014. View

Tims M, Bakker A, Derks D . The impact of job crafting on job demands, job resources, and well-being. J Occup Health Psychol. 2013; 18(2):230-40. DOI: 10.1037/a0032141. View

10.

Bakker A, Demerouti E . Job demands-resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. J Occup Health Psychol. 2016; 22(3):273-285. DOI: 10.1037/ocp0000056. View

11.

Kniffin K, Narayanan J, Anseel F, Antonakis J, Ashford S, Bakker A . COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action. Am Psychol. 2020; 76(1):63-77. DOI: 10.1037/amp0000716. View

12.

Podsakoff N, LePine J, LePine M . Differential challenge stressor-hindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and withdrawal behavior: a meta-analysis. J Appl Psychol. 2007; 92(2):438-54. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.438. View

13.

Demerouti E, Bakker A, Nachreiner F, Schaufeli W . The job demands-resources model of burnout. J Appl Psychol. 2001; 86(3):499-512. View

14.

Halbesleben J . Sources of social support and burnout: a meta-analytic test of the conservation of resources model. J Appl Psychol. 2006; 91(5):1134-45. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.91.5.1134. View

15.

Bouckenooghe D, Devos G, van den Broeck H . Organizational Change Questionnaire-Climate of Change, Processes, and Readiness: development of a new instrument. J Psychol. 2009; 143(6):559-99. DOI: 10.1080/00223980903218216. View

16.

Camacho S, Barrios A . Teleworking and technostress: early consequences of a COVID-19 lockdown. Cogn Technol Work. 2022; 24(3):441-457. PMC: 8783590. DOI: 10.1007/s10111-022-00693-4. View

17.

Trougakos J, Chawla N, McCarthy J . Working in a pandemic: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 health anxiety on work, family, and health outcomes. J Appl Psychol. 2020; 105(11):1234-1245. DOI: 10.1037/apl0000739. View

18.

Gonzalez-Sanguino C, Ausin B, Castellanos M, Saiz J, Lopez-Gomez A, Ugidos C . Mental health consequences during the initial stage of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in Spain. Brain Behav Immun. 2020; 87:172-176. PMC: 7219372. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.040. View

19.

Nolen-Hoeksema S, Wisco B, Lyubomirsky S . Rethinking Rumination. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015; 3(5):400-24. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x. View

20.

Brooks S, Webster R, Smith L, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N . The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet. 2020; 395(10227):912-920. PMC: 7158942. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8. View