Association between Self-Restraint Behavior, Stigma and Depressive Tendency in Office Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan—Self-Restraint Behavior and Depression during the COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to change their lifestyles, especially with respect to restrictions on going out. Forced quarantine (i.e., lockdown) and self-restraint behavior (SRB), including self-quarantine, are suggested to induce potential negative impacts on public mental health. SRB seems to be related to governmental policies, each individual’s social background and mental condition; however, no empirical studies have been conducted. Methods: 1053 participants (mainly office workers) from epidemic areas and non-epidemic areas in Japan voluntarily conducted an online survey in June 2020. We assessed COVID-19-related aspects such as the degree of SRB, motivation for SRB, stigma, anxiety and depressive feelings due to COVID-19 by original questionnaires) and general mental health status (social anxiety by MINI-SPIN, depressive tendency by PHQ-9, depression-related personality traits by TACS-22 and resilience by TRS). Results: Regional comparison showed significant differences in SRB and social anxiety. People in epidemic areas tend to refrain from going out. Conversely, people in non-epidemic areas tend to shun the public eye. Regardless of epidemic status, proactive SRB was associated with higher motivation for SRB, higher social anxiety, higher depressive tendency, stronger COVID-19-related psychological factors and lower resilience. Moreover, people with proactive SRB in non-epidemic areas had the highest depressive tendency. Discussion: The present cross-sectional survey among office workers in Japan showed that people with proactive SRB have stronger COVID-19-related anxiety and depressive feelings, regardless of where they live. Our key finding is that people with proactive SRB in non-epidemic areas have the highest depressive tendency. Based on the present finding, we herein propose the following hypothesis: Higher levels of depressive tendency may enhance proactive SRB, which may be partly associated with higher levels of stigma, anxiety and depressive feelings related to COVID-19. Limitations: The general tendencies to avoid danger and stigma were not evaluated. Conclusions: Depressive tendency is suggested to be associated with proactive SRB against COVID-19. Intervention for depressive tendency in non-clinical settings (e.g., workplaces) may help citizens understand the infectious situation appropriately and to behave effectively during the pandemic. Further investigations should be conducted to clarify the present findings.

Risk factors of hikikomori among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective online survey

“…(2) Variables affecting SRB For SRB, motivation for SRB led to actual SRB six months later, consistent with previous research showing that motivation for SRB influences actual changes in outgoing behavior (Katsuki et al, 2021). Furthermore, the present results suggest that SRB may have been caused not only by awareness of the social change of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, but also by lack of socialization and complaints, as well as an original tendency toward isolation, which led to retreat from interpersonal relationships and consequently resulting in SRB.…”

“…DWLS is recommended when non-normal or categorical data are included in the observed variables (Toyoda, 2014). The results showed a factor structure consistent with previous studies (Katsuki et al, 2021) as shown in Table 2 (χ 2 (480) = 3532.99, p < 0.01, CFI = 0.87, TLI = 0.86, RMSEA = 0.09, SRMR = 0.11). The Internal consistencies (Cronbach's alpha) for the factors ranged from 0.72 (COVID-19-related stigma) to 0.86 (COVID-19-related depressive feelings).…”

“…The participants in the present study were part of the 1053 participants in our previous online survey (Katsuki et al, 2021). We asked those 1053 participants to join in the second survey conducted six months later; 247 did not respond to our request and 806 agreed.…”

“…We measured the degree of SRB in the COVID-19 pandemic, the degree of motivation for SRB, stigma toward COVID-19 (both stigma toward others and self-stigma), anxiety in COVID-19, and depressive feelings in COVID-19 (Table 1). All the measures are the original scales developed in our previous study (Katsuki et al, 2021). The degree of SRB ranges 2 to 8, asking actual self-confinement behavior.…”

“…Due to normality deviations from the normal distribution of the obtained data, robust methods were employed in the subsequent analysis. First, for SRB-related indicators (Katsuki et al, 2021), we used data on 800 participants' data obtained in December 2020 to perform a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) method. DWLS is recommended when non-normal or categorical data are included in the observed variables (Toyoda, 2014).…”