Identifying Psychosocial Risks and Protective Measures for Workers’ Mental Wellbeing at the Time of COVID-19: A Narrative Review

The spread of the Sars-COV-2 virus has caused crucial changes in the workplace. Almost two years after the start of the COVID-19 era, new and old psychosocial risks in the workplace threaten workers’ mental wellbeing and represent an occupational health challenge. The aim of this review is to identify the most relevant psychosocial factors, negative or protective, contributing to occupational stress during the current pandemic. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar and PsycINFO and a total of 51 articles were deemed suitable for inclusion in the review. Analysis of the retrieved articles revealed five main topics related to psychosocial wellbeing in the workplace: (1) Support from colleagues and organizations; (2) Home–work interface and balance; (3) Changes in workload and work demand; (4) Job competence and appropriate training; (5) Job insecurity and financial stress. All five themes were associated with occupational stress and poor mental outcomes, like anxiety, depression, and burnout symptoms. Peer and organizational support seem to have a major impact on workers’ mental wellbeing. Recognizing these factors and projecting interventions that mitigate their effects or boost their efficacy is a fundamental step towards dealing with COVID-19 in the workplace, or any such future emergencies.

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Research on the Relationship Between Job Competence and Job Well-Being in Service Industry—Based on the Mediating Effect of Job Insecurity

International Business Research ◽

10.5539/ibr.v13n1p1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Yan-Hua Diao ◽

Chun-Shuo Chen

Keyword(s):

Organizational Support ◽

Perceived Organizational Support ◽

Service Industry ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Job Insecurity ◽

Well Being ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Job Competence ◽

The Relationship ◽

Positive Effect

This paper takes 328 questionnaires of supervisors and employees in the service industry as samples and verifies the mechanism of the relationship between job competence and job well-being from the perspective of mediating effect of job insecurity and moderating effect of perceived organizational support. The results show that job competence has a significant positive impact on job well-being, the stronger job competence is, and the higher job well-being will be. And the positive effect of job competence on job well-being is mediated by job insecurity. Job competence has a positive effect on job insecurity, job insecurity has a significant negative effect on job well-being，and perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between job insecurity and job well-being, with the increase of perceived organizational support, the negative influence of job insecurity on job well-being decreased. It provides new ideas for the service industry to strengthen care and support for employees to reduce job insecurity, improve employee happiness and motivate employees.

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Telomere Shortening and Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10061423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1423

Author(s):

Pedro A. Pousa ◽

Raquel M. Souza ◽

Paulo Henrique M. Melo ◽

Bernardo H. M. Correa ◽

Tamires S. C. Mendonça ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Traumatic Stress ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Telomere Shortening ◽

Anxiety Depression

Telomeres are aging biomarkers, as they shorten while cells undergo mitosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether psychiatric disorders marked by psychological distress lead to alterations to telomere length (TL), corroborating the hypothesis that mental disorders might have a deeper impact on our physiology and aging than it was previously thought. A systematic search of the literature using MeSH descriptors of psychological distress (“Traumatic Stress Disorder” or “Anxiety Disorder” or “depression”) and telomere length (“cellular senescence”, “oxidative stress” and “telomere”) was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect databases. A total of 56 studies (113,699 patients) measured the TL from individuals diagnosed with anxiety, depression and posttraumatic disorders and compared them with those from healthy subjects. Overall, TL negatively associates with distress-related mental disorders. The possible underlying molecular mechanisms that underly psychiatric diseases to telomere shortening include oxidative stress, inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction linking. It is still unclear whether psychological distress is either a cause or a consequence of telomere shortening.

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Cognitive and affective predictors of occupational stress and job performance: the role of perceived organizational support and work engagement

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences ◽

10.1108/jeas-02-2021-0020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Ana Junça Silva ◽

Cannanda Lopes

Keyword(s):

Job Performance ◽

Occupational Stress ◽

Work Engagement ◽

Organizational Support ◽

Perceived Organizational Support ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Future Research ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Content Type

PurposeThis study aimed to (1) analyze whether the perceived organizational support (POS) was a significant predictor of performance and stress and (2) explore the mediating role of engagement in these relations.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, the authors collected data with 200 working adults in a mandatory quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic crisis.FindingsThe results showed that the POS contributed to increase engagement, and consequently, job performance. These relations also proved to be significant for stress, because when the POS increased, the work engagement also increased, and as a result decreased occupational stress.Research limitations/implicationsThis study relied on a cross-sectional design. Therefore, future research should consider a daily design to replicate this study and analyze daily fluctuations. Overall, the authors can conclude that work engagement is an affective process through which POS decreases stress and increases performance.Originality/valueThis study tests the mediating effect of work engagement on the link between POS, stress and performance, and its theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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COVID-19 fear and performance of workers: A moderated mediation role of organizational support and mental wellbeing

Management Science Letters ◽

10.5267/j.msl.2021.10.005 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 81-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erasmus Keli Swanzy

Keyword(s):

Regression Analysis ◽

Organizational Support ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Negative Influence ◽

Self Report ◽

Adverse Impact ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

And Performance

The paper aimed to examine the influence of employees’ COVID-19 fear on their performance through intervening mechanisms such as mental wellbeing and organizational support. A total of 446 workers from the bank completed a self-report survey. Findings from regression analysis conducted with SPSS PROCESS MACRO (Model 7) revealed that employees’ COVID-19 fear did not have any direct negative influence on their performance but instead had an indirect effect on their performance via mental wellbeing (anxiety and depression). The findings also revealed that organizational support was instrumental in buffering the adverse impact of employees’ COVID-19 fear via mental wellbeing (anxiety and depression). Therefore, organizations should increase employee-supportive measures throughout this era of the COVID-19 to help reduce the adverse impact of employees’ COVID-19 fear.

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Impact of a physical activity program on the anxiety, depression, occupational stress and burnout syndrome of nursing professionals

Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/0104-1169.3307.2420 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 332-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Anderson Rodrigues Freitas ◽

Estela Cristina Carneseca ◽

Carlos Eduardo Paiva ◽

Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro Paiva

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Occupational Stress ◽

Bodily Pain ◽

Burnout Syndrome ◽

Work Related ◽

Related Quality ◽

Nursing Professionals ◽

Anxiety Depression

OBJECTIVE: to assess the effects of a workplace physical activity (WPA) program on levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, occupational stress and self-perception of health and work-related quality of life of a nursing team in a palliative care unit.METHODS: the WPA was conducted five days per week, lasting ten minutes, during three consecutive months. Twenty-one nursing professionals were evaluated before and after the intervention, with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Maslch Burnout Inventory, and the Job Stress Scale. The changes in self-perceived health and work-related quality of life were measured using a semi-structured questionnaire.RESULTS: the WPA did not yield significant results on the levels of anxiety, depression, burnout or occupational stress. However, after the intervention, participants reported improved perceptions of bodily pain and feeling of fatigue at work.CONCLUSION: the WPA did not lead to beneficial effects on occupational stress and psychological variables, but it was well accepted by the nursing professionals, who reported improvement in perceptions of health and work-related quality of life.

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THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT IN JOB INSECURITY AND PERFORMANCE

Revista de Administração de Empresas ◽

10.1590/s0034-759020180405 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 393-404 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

SERGIO ANDRÉS LÓPEZ BOHLE ◽

MARIA JOSÉ CHAMBEL ◽

FELIPE MUÑOZ MEDINA ◽

BRUNO SILVA DA CUNHA

Keyword(s):

Organizational Commitment ◽

Job Performance ◽

Organizational Support ◽

Perceived Organizational Support ◽

Job Insecurity ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Retail Sector ◽

Affective Organizational Commitment ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Relationship

ABSTRACT In this study, we develop a conceptual model of the relationship between job insecurity and job performance, which is mediated by affective organizational commitment and moderated via perceived organizational support in a Chilean company that has undergone downsizing. In this cross-sectional study, we focused on 400 Chilean employees from the retail sector. Our findings indicate that job insecurity negatively influences job performance, which is a relationship that is partially mediated by effective organizational commitment. Moreover, a high level of perceived organizational support helped intensify the effects of the relationship between job insecurity and affective organizational commitment. To minimize the negative effects of job insecurity on the active employees of a downsizing strategy, an effective intervention is required by developing a more realistic communication in terms of a worker's expectations toward the organization.

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Perceived Job Demands: A Qualitative Study of Stress in Healthcare Workers after Organizational Changes

10.21203/rs.3.rs-266425/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Masoume Zeinolabedini ◽

Alireza Heidarnia ◽

Ghodratollah Shakeri Nejad ◽

Mohammad Esmaeil Motlagh

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Organizational Change ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Occupational Stress ◽

Job Insecurity ◽

High Stress ◽

Job Demands ◽

Study Data ◽

Primary Health Care System ◽

The Impact

Abstract BackgroundHealth care workers (HCWs) are at risk for occupational stress. The negative effects of stress HCWs subsequently affect the quality of their job performance. Since 2014, there have been extensive changes in the primary health care system in Iran. Because evidence has shown that organizational change can cause stress in employees, this study was designed and conducted to explore the perceived job demands by HCWs in primary care centers after extensive organizational change.MethodA qualitative study was designed with a content analysis approach. Study data were collected through 11 semi-structured individual interviews and a focus group with HCWs.ResultsParticipants reported high stress at work. They reported various factors as stressful job demands. These factors included: organization's supervisory function (Weakness of the monitoring process, Unfair policies, Apply regulatory pressure), Role features (Role load, Role conflicts, Role ambiguity(,Workload )High workload, Not having time, Great variety of tasks), job insecurity (Lack of job security due to employment status, Concerns about payments, Lack of physical security, Uncertain job future), Working with clients (Different characteristics of clients, Harassment of clients to achieve their expectations, Tensions in client relationships, Lack of knowledge of clients about health care work instructions), Perceived job content (Annoying work with different units of the organization, Monotonous and repetitive tasks, Meaningless tasks, No attractive and no excitement).ConclusionCurrently, HCWs working in health centers are faced with various stressful situations. Most of the factors identified in this study overlap in increasing stress. The impact of workload and organizational oversight on occupational stress seems to be more pronounced. Given the important role of HCWs in promoting health, the design and implementation of effective interventions by policymakers to control stress in HCWs is essential.

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Relieving from Breathlessness in the Wind: A Meta-Analysis and Subjective Report of Effectiveness of Fan Blowing in Patients with Cardiorespiratory Diseases or Cancer

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® ◽

10.1177/10499091211056327 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 104990912110563

Author(s):

Jing-Jing Tsai ◽

Kee-Hsin Chen ◽

Hui-Fen Fang ◽

Tsai-Wei Huang

Keyword(s):

Male Patient ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Terminally Ill ◽

Vital Signs ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Subjective Feeling ◽

Control Methods ◽

Terminally Ill Patients ◽

Short Time ◽

Anxiety Depression

Objectives Breathlessness is common among terminally ill patients with cardiorespiratory disease or cancer. The experience may induce secondary physiological and behavioral responses that limit patient well-being and independence and cause emotional distress. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the effectiveness of fan blowing on breathlessness among patients with cardiorespiratory diseases or cancer. The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, SCOPUS, and CINAHL databases were searched to retrieve potential articles. The primary outcome was breathlessness severity. The secondary outcomes were SpO2, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Also, we presented the changes of vital signs and subjective feeling of a male patient who used fan blowing for relieving his breathlessness. Results Eight RCTs were available for analysis. The pooled results demonstrated no significant difference in breathlessness severity between fan-to-face blowing and control methods (standard mean difference: −0.21, 95% confidence interval: −.59 to .17); however, a significant reduction in breathlessness severity was observed in the short-time intervention compared with long-time intervention. A trend occurred toward significance in the reduction of respiratory rate in fan-to-face blowing compared with control methods (MD: −.64, 95% CI: −1.37 to .09). No differences were observed between groups in oxygen saturation, anxiety, depression, or QoL. The male patient who used fan blowing showed an improved vital signs and a satisfied subjective feeling. Conclusions Consistent short-time fan-to-face blowing is effective for relieving breathlessness among conscious terminally ill patients with cardiorespiratory diseases or cancer. The use of this convenient method for relieving breathlessness symptoms in terminally ill patients is recommended.

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The Perception of Psychosocial Risks and Work-Related Stress in Relation to Job Insecurity and Gender Differences: A Cross-Sectional Study

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2018/7649085 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Simone De Sio ◽

Fabrizio Cedrone ◽

Edoardo Trovato Battagliola ◽

Giuseppe Buomprisco ◽

Roberto Perri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Job Insecurity ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Work Related Stress ◽

Health Safety ◽

Psychosocial Risks ◽

Temporary Contracts ◽

Work Related ◽

Related Stress

Introduction. The perception of psychosocial risks exposes workers to develop work-related stress. Recently the attention of scientific research has focused on a psychosocial risk already identified as “job insecurity” that regards the “overall concern about the continued existence of the job in the future” and that also depends on worker’s perception, different for each gender. Aim of the Study. The aim of this cross sectional study is to show if job insecurity, in the form of temporary contracts, can influence the perception of psychosocial risks and therefore increase worker’s vulnerability to work-related stress and how the magnitude of this effect differs between genders. Materials and Methods. 338 administrative technical workers (113 males and 225 females) were administered a questionnaire, enquiring contract typology (permanent or temporary contracts), and the Health Safety Executive questionnaire to assess work-related stress. The Health Safety Executive Analysis Tool software was used to process collected questionnaires and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to evaluate the statistical significance of the differences obtained. Results. Workers with temporary contracts obtained lower scores than workers with permanent contracts in all the domains explored by the Health Safety Executive Analysis questionnaire, statistically significant (P<0,05). The female workers obtained lower scores than male workers in all domains explored by the Health Safety Executive questionnaire. Conclusions. Authors conclude that perception of psychosocial risks can be influenced by job insecurity, in the form of temporary contracts, and increases worker’s vulnerability to work-related stress and differs between genders.

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Occupational stress of employees in an insurance company

South African Journal of Business Management ◽

10.4102/sajbm.v37i3.605 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 29-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W. J. Coetzer ◽

S. Rothmann

Keyword(s):

Occupational Stress ◽

Survey Design ◽

Job Insecurity ◽

Insurance Industry ◽

Job Characteristics ◽

Insurance Company ◽

Organisational Commitment ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

And Control

The objectives of this study were to assess the internal consistency of the ASSET, to identify occupational stressors for employees in an insurance company and to assess the relationships between occupational stress, ill health and organisational commitment. A cross-sectional survey design was used. An availability sample (N = 613) of employees in an insurance company was used. An Organisational Stress Screening Tool (ASSET) was used as measuring instrument. The results showed that job insecurity as well as pay and benefits were the highest stressors in the insurance industry. Two stressors, namely job characteristics and control were statistically significant predictors of low organisational commitment. Physical ill health was best predicted by overload and job characteristics. Three stressors, namely work-life balance, overload and job characteristics best predicted psychological ill health.

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