Social connections at work and mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from employees in Germany

Breetzke, Jonas; Wild, Eva-Maria

doi:10.1101/2022.03.04.22270966

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…An investigation reveals that the real and desired connectedness has a greater impact on employees' health than the lesser or no social connectedness. When looking at the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace, this disparity should be taken into account as a possible avenue ( 38 ). The COVID-19 and its preventive measures like social distancing may harm employees' health ( 38 ).…”

Section: Theoretical Support and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When looking at the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace, this disparity should be taken into account as a possible avenue ( 38 ). The COVID-19 and its preventive measures like social distancing may harm employees' health ( 38 ). Following this perspective, the following hypothesis was developed.…”

Section: Theoretical Support and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of less social connectedness and fear of COVID-19 test on employees task performance: A multi-mediation model

Zhang

2022

Front. Public Health

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The core objective of this study is to examine the impact of less social connectedness and testing fear on employee health. This study also investigates the mediating role of psychological strain between the relationship of less social connectedness, testing fear and employee health. Furthermore, this study also assesses the impact of employee health on employee performance. The study's target audience consisted of employees in the electronics industry in China. The convenience sample method was used in this study to collect data from respondents. Data analysis of this study was performed by using the structural equation modeling technique. The statistical software used for data analysis is Smart PLS 3. The results of this study show that less COVID-19 testing fear has a negatively significant impact on employee health, but less social connectedness has not significant direct impact on employee health. Furthermore, psychological strain was discovered to mediate the relationship between less social connectedness and employee health and testing fear and employee health. In addition, this impact of employee health on employee performance was found significant. This study provides theoretical and practical implications. In the context of practical implications, this study provides valuable insights for the organizational management to develop a healthy and positive working environment and adopt healthy behavior among their employees which ultimately foster their job performance.

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Section: Theoretical Support and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Support and Hypothesis Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of less social connectedness and fear of COVID-19 test on employees task performance: A multi-mediation model

Zhang

2022

Front. Public Health

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Creativity Unlocked and Locked Down: Different Creative Activities Differently Affected by Restrained Social Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Form

2024

Creativity. Theories – Research - Applications

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Both social interaction and the lack thereof have been discussed as being beneficial for creativity. Strikingly, in both cases there seems to be an implicit assumption that different creative activities are all influenced in the same way. However, the idea that different creative behaviors are all equally influenced by social interaction seems not reasonable (e.g., poem writing vs. singing a song at a family celebration). The reduction in social contacts in Germany during the coronavirus pandemic offered a unique opportunity for a field experiment with high ecological validity. To explore how different creative activities are each influenced by reduced social interaction, 130 participants were asked in an online survey using a proxy pretest design about the frequency of everyday creative activities before and during the core episode of social distancing. The change in frequency for performing a given creative activity depended on the frequency at baseline, but not in a linear manner. Instead, the relationship was u-shaped: creative activities most frequently performed at baseline showed an increase in frequency, creative activities of medium frequency at baseline decreased, and the least frequent activities changed the least. In particular, activities represented by “Personal Environment Creativity” increased in frequency, while activities represented by “Self-Expressive Creativity” decreased in frequency during lockdown. Recalling the four p’s of creativity, it is accepted that the person aspect differs between domains. It is therefore surprising that we commonly assume press-level features work the same way across all domains, which is challenged by the current study.

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Mood, Quality of Life, and Immune Fitness During the COVID-19 Pandemic of Young Adults in Germany

Hendriksen,

Kiani,

Koyun

et al. 2024

JCM

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected young adults’ lives globally, including those in Germany. This study investigated mental health and quality of life during the pandemic, with a particular focus on mood. Immune fitness, the body’s capacity to respond to health challenges (such as infections) by activating an appropriate immune response, was assessed as a physical health indicator. Methods: Data were collected from 317 participants, aged 18 to 35, via an online survey conducted between November 2021 and March 2022. Participants included 103 men (32.5%) and 214 women (67.5%), with a mean age of 25.5 years (SD = 4.1). Results: Compared to pre-pandemic levels, significant declines in mood, quality of life, immune fitness, and sleep quality were observed during the lockdown periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (p < 0.0125). The most pronounced effects were observed during the second lockdown, with declines extending into the second no-lockdown period for fatigue, depression, happiness, optimism, and immune fitness (p < 0.0125). Significant sex differences were found for the magnitude of mood effects (anxiety, depression, stress). No significant differences were found according to age or occupational status (student vs. work). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown periods had a significant negative effect on the mood, immune fitness, and well-being of young adults living in Germany.

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Social connections at work and mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from employees in Germany

Cited by 3 publications

References 42 publications

Impact of less social connectedness and fear of COVID-19 test on employees task performance: A multi-mediation model

Impact of less social connectedness and fear of COVID-19 test on employees task performance: A multi-mediation model

Creativity Unlocked and Locked Down: Different Creative Activities Differently Affected by Restrained Social Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mood, Quality of Life, and Immune Fitness During the COVID-19 Pandemic of Young Adults in Germany

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