Mental Health and Work Attitudes among People Resuming Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Abstract

The unprecedented outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused an economic downturn and increased the unemployment rate in China. In this context, employees face health and social economic stressors. To assess their mental health (i.e., anxiety, depression, insomnia and somatization) and work attitudes (i.e., work engagement, job satisfaction and turnover intention) as well as the associated factors, we conducted a cross-sectional study among people who resumed work after the Spring Festival holiday during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, insomnia and somatization among these people was 12.7%, 13.5%, 20.7% and 6.6%, respectively. The major risk factor for mental health was worrying about unemployment, and the main protective factors were psychological strengths (i.e., resilience and optimism). Regarding work attitudes, the percentage of people who felt more satisfied with their job (43.8%) was larger than that of those who felt less satisfied (26.9%), while the percentage of people who thought about quitting their job more frequently (15.7%) was smaller than that of those who considered it less frequently (63.2%). However, work engagement was lower than usual. Similar to the factors associated with mental health, the major risk factor for work attitudes was also worrying about unemployment, and the main protective factors were resilience and optimism. In addition, the nature of the organization, job status, age, position and income changes were also related to these work attitudes. Our findings shed light on the need for organization administrators to be aware of the status of and factors associated with employees’ mental health and work attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policies or interventions could be developed based on our findings.

COVID-19 is having a destructive impact on health-care workers’ mental well-being

“…Symptoms as distress [ 12 , 13 , 16 ] and decreased appetite or indigestion are also frequently reported [ 12 ]. Our results are also in line with negative professional symptoms as stopping with the present job [ 15 , 22 ]. COVID-19-related studies showed that the prevalence in nurses for probable anxiety and depression was higher compared to doctors.…”

Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review

“…The last column describes the country or countries focus of the survey and/or the location of the participants. Category Subcategory Sample size Country and Reference Health and wellbeing indicators Mental Health and wellbeing Italy [158] , 59 countries [159] Bangladesh [160] , China [161] , [162] , USA [163] , [164] , [165] , Serbia [166] Canada [167] , China [168] , Ghana [169] , Jordan [170] , Italy [171] , Russia and Belarus [26] , USA [172] , [173] , [174] USA [175] Netherlands [176] Health Behaviors China [177] , Spain …”

“…It interesting to notice the variety of angles and aspects covered in the surveys on mental health. In fact, they consider loneliness [164] , [172] , [174] , domestic abuse [170] , psychological mindset [26] , [158] , [159] , [160] , [163] , [165] , [166] , [168] , [169] , as well as particular groups of the population studying the toll on frontline workers [161] , students [173] , [175] , parents and children [162] , [167] , [171] , [176] . Several common themes as well as some conflicting results emerged from this research.…”

“…Being unemployed and married were the most important features linked to abuse. In terms of psychological mindset of participants living under some type of NPIs country of residence, age, gender relationship status, living arrangements, income, and education are important factors [26] , [158] , [159] , [160] , [163] , [166] , [168] , [169] . In fact, a study conducted by recruiting participants in countries reports that socio-demographic features, having had symptoms, mobility restrictions, and having had issues transitioning to remote work or an increase of conflict at home explain around 20% of the variance in depression and anxiety [159] .…”

The Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Job Loss, and Mental Health Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Research on the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly growing. However, relatively little academic work has attempted to identify dispositional protective factors against negative affective state during the pandemic ( 39 ). Previous research has identified a clear link between MT and resilience to stress, however, prior to this paper the relationship had not be explored in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic – a period of global and societal distress.…”