scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Mental Well-Being and Working Life among Faroese Employees

Author(s):  
Annika H. Davidsen ◽  
Maria S. Petersen

The societal changes caused by COVID-19 have been far-reaching, causing challenges for employees around the world. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the COVID-19 restrictions on mental well-being, working life, family life and social life among Faroese employees within a broad range of professions. A total of 1328 Faroese employees answered an anonymous self-report survey from 13 April to 4 May 2020. Employee mental well-being was only modestly affected by the restrictions and the respondents had a mean score of 50.7 on the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale where a score between 41–44 is found to correspond with possible depression. Work commitment, work and family life, work satisfaction and work ability were all rated significantly worse after the COVID-19 outbreak than before (all p values < 0.005). Contrary to previous research, employees in health services assessed their work ability significantly higher than employees in teaching, and child and youth care (p < 0.05). Working parents had higher levels of stress and assessed their work ability significantly lower than employees without children (p < 0.05), and women tended to be more worried than men because of the pandemic. In conclusion, the overall mental well-being of Faroese employees was on an average level during lock-down in April and May 2020. Their working life seemed, however, to be worse than usual.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2097546
Author(s):  
Richard A Sharpe ◽  
Andrew J Williams ◽  
Ben Simpson ◽  
Gemma Finnegan ◽  
Tim Jones

Fuel poverty affects around 34% of European homes, representing a considerable burden to society and healthcare systems. This pilot study assesses the impact of an intervention to install a new first time central heating system in order to reduce fuel poverty on household satisfaction with indoor temperatures/environment, ability to pay bills and mental well-being. In Cornwall, 183 households received the intervention and a further 374 went onto a waiting list control. A post-intervention postal questionnaires and follow-up phone calls were undertaken ( n = 557) to collect data on household demographics, resident satisfaction with indoor environment, finances and mental well-being (using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale). We compared responses between the waiting list control and intervention group to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. A total of 31% of participants responded, 83 from the waiting list control and 71 from the intervention group. The intervention group reported improvements in the indoor environment, finances and mental well-being. However, these benefits were not expressed by all participants, which may result from diverse resident behaviours, lifestyles and housing characteristics. Future policies need to consider whole house approaches alongside resident training and other behaviour change techniques that can account for complex interactions between behaviours and the built environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-497
Author(s):  
Volkan Ozcan ◽  

This study aims at investigating the mediating effect of coping between perfectionism and well-being. In other words, it has been assumed that with the increase in the level of perfectionism, the increase will make it difficult to cope and consequently decrease the mental well-being of individuals, the study examined athletic coping mediated the perfectionism–wellbeing relationship among student athletes. According to recent research that athletic coping may mediate the relationship between perfectionism and well-being. Participants were 292 sports students obtained with the convenient sampling method comprising 119 females and 173 males. Ages ranged from 18-35 years (M = 21.71, SD = 2.15). Self-report data were collected including psychometric measures assessing multidimensional perfectionism, mental wellbeing and athletic coping skills. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between mental well-being and coping skills of sportspeople. There were negative significant correlations observed between mental well-being with other-oriented, socially-prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism. The results of this study suggest that athletic coping skills had a partial mediating role between other-oriented perfectionism and the mental well-being of sportspeople.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavna Mukund ◽  
Rejani Thudalikunil Gopalan

Background: People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) manifest a wide range of stress responses ranging from disbelief, denial, fear to extreme conditions of anxiety disorders, depression and even suicidal thoughts. These complications can have a significant impact on daily functioning and greatly diminish quality of life. Mental wellbeing and Quality of Life can help in better management of stress and facilitate adaptive coping among PLWHA. Aim: The research examined the impact of mental wellbeing and Quality of Life on Depression, Anxiety and Stress among people living with HIV/AIDS infection. Research Design: Cross sectional survey design was used. Sample: A sample of 60 people (males and females of equal number) over the age of 18 years and with the diagnosis for HIV/AIDS for more than six months participated in the study. Tools used: To assess the depression, anxiety and stress among PLWHA, DASS scale was used and to assess their psychological wellbeing, Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being scale was used. In order to assess their present status of QOL regarding the illness, WHO’s QOL HIV-BREF Scale was used. Results: Majority of the PLWHA had moderate level of anxiety and mild level of depression after being diagnosed. Most of the participants have positive mental well-being and had enhanced quality of life. Conclusion: A direct effect of mental wellbeing has been found on the depression, anxiety and stress among PLWHA indicating that higher the mental wellbeing of the PLWHA, the greater is the likelihood that they do not suffer from depression, exhibit less anxiety and are living a stress free life and vice versa. The study also found direct impact of QOL on psychological distress, depression and anxiety among PLWHA i.e. poor QOL of PLWHA makes them more prone to and vulnerable to stress, depression and anxiety and vice versa.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea Mihai

This MRP looks at the communication used in mental health campaigns for a post-secondary student audience, focusing on how language use and visual design choices impact the stigma associated with mental health. This MRP focuses specifically on the communications seen on Ryerson University’s campus in the 2016 – 2017 academic school year. A video available on Ryerson’s YouTube channel and a sample of posters available throughout campus were analyzed for language and visual design choices to determine how they fit within stigma management communication strategies and how those choices had the potential to influence perceived stigma in viewers." Goffman’s (1963) theory on stigma and an individual’s identity was used to analyze the content of the video and posters. Goffman’s theory outlines the various stages of stigma that an individual experiences, and the impact of each stage on how that individual chooses to interact with others. Miesenbach’s (2010) model for stigma management communication, along with information from an expert interview with a front-line worker will also be used to analyze content in the video and posters. By understanding the communications around mental health through the lens of Goffman (1963) and Miesenbach (2010), it will be possible to understand how the communications are increasing or reducing the stigma around mental health. The analysis of the rhetoric in the messages gives a hint as to how our culture reflects stigma in the messages created, and how this rhetoric may affect students in a culture. This research analyzes Ryerson’s mental well-being campaign for the purpose of identifying a list of best practices for communicating about mental health. The findings show that one of the campaigns accomplishes this better than the other. Effective mental well-being campaigns are those that incorporate elements that normalize discussion of mental health topics, offer strategies for dealing with mental health concerns and overall, promote a culture that prioritizes mental well-being.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Finchilescu ◽  
Colleen Bernstein ◽  
Davidzo Chihambakwe

Bullying is an environmental workplace stressor that has severe implications for the bullied individual and the organisation. Nurses within Southern African hospitals face unique challenges, which can foster an environment within which bullying flourishes. In particular within public hospitals, there are shortages of doctors, equipment, and basic resources, and hospitals are grossly understaffed. This study investigated the effect of workplace bullying on nurses’ sense of well-being, their job satisfaction, and propensity to leave. The effectiveness of social support as a moderator of the impact of bullying was considered. A self-report questionnaire was completed by 102 nurses from a public hospital in Zimbabwe. Moderated multiple regression analyses were conducted on each of the outcomes of bullying. Workplace bullying was found to have a significant impact on the outcomes measured. Higher levels of bullying were associated with lowered job satisfaction and greater propensity to leave. Social support within the sample under study did not influence these outcomes, but did influence mental well-being as a moderator. At low and medium levels of experienced bullying, high levels of support promoted higher well-being than low and medium support. But this was not the case when there was a high level of bullying, where there was no difference in mental well-being as a function of the level of social support.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callum Stewart ◽  
Yatharth Ranjan ◽  
Pauline Conde ◽  
Zulqarnain Rashid ◽  
Heet Sangkesara ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The ubiquity of mobile phones and increasing use of wearable fitness trackers offers a wide-ranging window into people’s health and well-being. There are clear advantages in using remote monitoring technologies to gain an insight into health, particularly under the shadow of the current COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE The Covid Collab study was set up to investigate the feasibility of identifying, monitoring, and understanding the stratification of COVID-19 infection and recovery through remote monitoring technologies. Additionally, we will assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social measures on people’s behaviour, physical health, and mental well-being. METHODS Participants remotely enrolled on the study through the Mass Science app to donate both historic and prospective mobile phone data, fitness tracking wearable data, and regular COVID-19 and mental health related surveys. Data is being recorded for the period of the pandemic, notably including pre, during and post acute infection phase. We plan to carry out analyses in several areas, covering symptomatology, risk factors, machine learning-based classification of illness, and trajectories of recovery, mental well-being, and activity. RESULTS Covid Collab is a crowdsourced study using remote monitoring technologies to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 2021 there are over 17000 participants, largely from the United Kingdom, with enrolment ongoing. CONCLUSIONS This paper introduces a remotely enrolled crowd-sourced study recording mobile health data throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The data collected may help investigate a variety of areas, including COVID-19 disease progression, mental wellbeing during the pandemic, and adherence of remote, digitally enrolled participants.


Author(s):  
Liudmyla Karamushka ◽  

Introduction. The COVID-19-pandemic social tensions have caused a number of problems in staffʼs psychological health. The study of foreign experience and analysis of relevant foreign publications will allow generalizing diagnostic and developmental approaches to the study of organization staff's psychological health and its promotion. Aim. On the basis of the analysis of foreign sources, to define the basic directions of research into staff's psychological health in the conditions of social tension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results. As a result of the analysis of works of foreign authors, the author has determined the following main directions of research on staff's psychological health in the conditions of social tension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) managers' use of innovative management styles and their role in reducing social tension in organizations; 2) activities of remote teams during the COVID-19 pandemic and their role in maintaining staff's psychological health; 3) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the level of stress among staff and the development of staff resilience; 4) the development of social resilience thinking in times of crisis as a prerequisite of organizations' resilience; 5) ensuring staff's well-being and satisfaction with work and family life during the COVID-19 pandemic; 6) the impact of work tensions caused by the pandemic COVID-19 on staff's conflict-coping creative efforts. Conclusions. Based on the analysis of foreign studies, the author has found a certain negative impact of social tensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on staff's psychological health in organizations. This problem can be solved using new approaches in the activities of organizations (use of innovative management styles; organization of effective work of remote teams using digital technologies; development of staff and organization's resilience; remote-work-and-family-life balance; intensification of creative efforts to overcome tension in work and reduce conflict interaction, etc.).


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S792-S792
Author(s):  
Ruixue Zhaoyang ◽  
Lynn M Martire

Abstract Recent theories suggest that non-sexual physical contact with close others plays a key role in promoting health and well-being in adulthood. However, the impact of non-sexual physical contact in later life, especially the affectionate touch between romantic partners, has been largely unexplored. Using two waves of dyadic data (N=953 couples, Mage=71 years) from National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we examined whether shared affectionate touch between spouses prospectively predicted both partners’ relational, mental and physical well-being five years later, independent of sex activity. Dyadic analyses results indicated that frequency of shared affectionate touch with the partner predicted increases in spouses’ own relationship satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health, but not in physical health, over five years. No interpersonal (i.e., partner) effect of shared affectionate touch was found. Findings underscore the unique role of non-sexual physical contact between spouses in promoting relational and mental well-being for older couples.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S916-S916
Author(s):  
Christian Deindl ◽  
Miriam Engels

Abstract The connection between employment, family life and health is well documented. Job demands and family obligations are divergent responsibilities and can be a constant source of conflict. The resulting role strain can have a long lasting impact on mental health. Using data from SHARE and ELSA, we take a life course perspective and look at patterns of employment history from the age of 25 to 40 combined with partnership and fertility history of 17,189 men and 23,266 women in 22 European countries. Sequence analysis combined with cluster analysis shows a clear picture of five dominant states in our sample: Stable work and family, stable work without family, working single parent, working childless couples, and being non employed. This pattern is similar for men and women. We use path models to distinguish the impact of childhood conditions on such life course patterns and the direct and indirect impact of employment and family life on mental health. Women who did not combine work and family roles, (work without family, family without work) reported higher levels of depression in comparison with women who combined work and family. Non-working women and single mothers also experienced indirect effects on depression through their economic situation. Unemployed men or men without family reported higher levels of depression. Unemployment and being a single father also have an indirect impact on depression via economic conditions and health. Moreover, such results also differ between countries, with lower employment rates reducing role strain for women, but not so for men.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-310
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Hales ◽  
Natasha R. Wood ◽  
Kipling D. Williams

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing and lockdowns has caused unprecedented changes to social life. We consider the possible implications of these changes for mental health. Drawing from research on social ostracism emphasizing the importance of social connection for mental well-being, there is reason for concern regarding the mental health effects of the crisis. However, there are also reasons for optimism; people can be surprisingly resilient to stressful situations, the impact of ostracism tends to depend on social norms (which are rapidly changing), and mental health depends primarily on having at least one or two close social connections. Given the scale and unprecedented nature of the social disruption that occurred, we see strong reason for concern, but not despair.


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