Living Space and Job Prospects and Their Relationship with Subjective Well-Being during COVID-19 Confinement in Spain: The Mediator Role of Resilience

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the relationships of participants’ home characteristics (living space) and job prospects after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to their subjective psychological well-being (SWB) (in terms of both affective and cognitive aspects). We also examined the role of participants’ resilience as a possible mediator in the relationships among the aforementioned variables. The sample comprised 474 Spanish adults who completed an online questionnaire between 14 and 24 April 2020, when COVID-19 confinement was very strict in Spain. We proposed a path analysis model including the described variables. The model presented a good fit (χ2 = 7.41, df = 5, p = 0.376, comparative fit index = 0.996, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.987; root mean square error of approximation = 0.032). The results indicated that living space and future job prospects predicted resilience, which, in turn, was related to SWB. Moreover, the bootstrapping results revealed a mediating effect of resilience that showed indirect relationships between living space and SWB and between job prospects and SWB. Our results underline the importance of environmental (living space) and job-related variables to predict SWB as well as the mediating role that resilience may play during the confinement period.

Home habitability, perceived stress and antisocial behaviour (Habitabilidad de la vivienda, estrés percibido y conducta antisocial)

“…Finalmente, existe un vínculo entre el factor económico y la calidad de la vivienda que favorece la percepción de habitabilidad. Tener una vivienda más grande está relacionado con un mayor nivel de ingresos o de educación, variables que se relacionan positivamente con el bienestar psicológico (Molero et al, 2021). Al respecto, Evans et al (2005) advierte que el entorno vital inmediato de muchas familias de bajos ingresos se caracteriza por ser viviendas reducidas, ruidosas y de peor calidad en comparación de aquellas personas procedentes de niveles socioeconómicos medios y altos, dando como resultado que aquellas familias que residen en hogares con infraestructura deficiente y en vecindarios caracterizados por comportamientos antisociales son más proclives a experimentar una acumulación de riesgos emocionales y conductuales (Evans & Kantrowitz, 2002).…”

“…El hogar constituye el principal entorno vital de las personas, por lo que la satisfacción promovida por la habitabilidad de la vivienda se manifiesta en patrones de convivencia entre los integrantes del hogar (Corral-Verdugo et al, 2011a; Landazuri & Mercado, 2004). La habitabilidad ha sido estudiada como un proceso psicológico, en donde las condiciones individuales y situacionales influyen en la percepción de las personas sobre el ambiente (Corral-Verdugo et al, 2011a), del mismo modo, Molero et al (2021) confirmó que el confort ambiental durante el confinamiento por la pandemia del COVID-19 se asoció positivamente con la resiliencia y la satisfacción con la vida.…”

“…Habitability has been studied as a psychological process in which individual and situational conditions influence people’s perceptions of their environment (Corral-Verdugo et al, 2011a). Likewise, Molero et al (2021) confirmed that environmental comfort during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic was positively associated with resilience and life satisfaction.…”

“…Finally, there is an association between the economic factor and home quality that fosters the perception of habitability. Having a larger home is related to higher income and educational levels, variables which are positively related to psychological well-being (Molero et al, 2021). In this regard, Evans et al (2005) notes that the immediate living environments of many low-income families are characterized by being small, noisy and worse quality compared to those of people from medium and upper socioeconomic levels, resulting in the fact that families who live in homes with deficient infrastructures and in neighbourhoods characterized by antisocial behaviours are more likely to experience an accumulation of emotional and behavioural risks (Evans & Kantrowitz, 2002).…”

Association between work situation and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic: prospective cohort study in Norway

“…A study from China suggested that people who stopped working as a consequence of the pandemic reported worse mental and physical health conditions 14. Yet another study found an association with lower life satisfaction among those with a negative job prospect as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic 15…”