Impact of In-Home Repair Services on Physical and Mental Harm among Essential Workers: The Mediating Effect of Fear and Moderating Effect of Types of Employment

Abstract

This study attempted to establish a hypothetical model describing the severity of physical and mental harm among essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, the mediating effect of fear on the relationship between in-home services and the severity of physical and mental harm was analyzed. Moreover, this study utilized multigroup path analysis to examine differences according to the type of employment. Thus, data from all 502 participants were included in the final analysis. The study found that in-home service did not have a direct effect on fear in the path model for the permanent employment group, but did have a direct effect on fear in the path model for the non-permanent employment group. The implications for the field are that the following is required: an anti-infection system should be incorporated at workplaces; employment stability should be provided for essential workers; providing systematic support, such as professional counseling to alleviate negative emotional responses, should be considered.

Employment in the 21st Century: Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Changes

“…Workers who experienced job loss were more likely to face mental health issues compared to those who remained employed [78]. Permanent in-home service workers were less affected by fear compared to the non-permanent working group [79], while Hagen et al [80] argue that emotions like anxiety, rage, and loneliness rather than depression were more common in state-level employment. The same sentiments were more common in full-time employees and workers who had been retired, and less common in non-working and homemaker individuals.…”