COVID-19 crisis and digital stressors at work: A longitudinal study on the Finnish working population

Atte Oksanen; Reetta Oksa; Nina Savela; Eerik Mantere; Iina Savolainen; Markus Kaakinen

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.106853

COVID-19 crisis and digital stressors at work: A longitudinal study on the Finnish working population

Atte Oksanen^*
, Reetta Oksa
, Nina Savela
, Eerik Mantere
, Iina Savolainen
, Markus Kaakinen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

108 Citations (Scopus)

29 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus and the associated disease (COVID-19) has changed working conditions due to social-distancing policies. Many workers started to use new technologies at work, including social media applications. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the potential stress effects of social media communication (SMC) at work. Based on our integrative theoretical model, we expected that SMC at work would burden some workers, but those who were accustomed to SMC at work would be better off when the crisis started. We collected a nationally representative sample of Finnish workers before (N = 1308) and during (N = 1081) the COVID-19 crisis. Outcome measures included technostress and work exhaustion. Multilevel linear mixed-effects regression models investigated formal and informal SMC at work. Covariates included cyberbullying at work, social media usage, personality, occupational status, and sociodemographic factors. Results showed that formal SMC increased and predicted higher technostress. However, technostress and work exhaustion decreased among workers already accustomed to using SMC at work before the crisis. The results indicate a disparity in workers’ resilience during remote work and highlight a need for organizational level support.

Original language	English
Article number	106853
Journal	Computers in Human Behavior
Volume	122
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106853
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021
Publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project, project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen). This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project , project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
Disasters
Social media
Technology
Technostress
Work exhaustion

Publication forum classification

Publication forum level 2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Human-Computer Interaction
General Psychology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.chb.2021.106853Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

COVID-19 crisis and digitalFinal published version, 624 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202105255400Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Sosiaalinen media työelämässä: kansallinen työntekijäkysely 2019
Oksanen, A. (Creator), Oksa, R. (Creator) & Kaakinen, M. (Creator), Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD), 10 Sept 2025
DOI: 10.60686/t-fsd3985
Dataset

Cite this

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abstract = "The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus and the associated disease (COVID-19) has changed working conditions due to social-distancing policies. Many workers started to use new technologies at work, including social media applications. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the potential stress effects of social media communication (SMC) at work. Based on our integrative theoretical model, we expected that SMC at work would burden some workers, but those who were accustomed to SMC at work would be better off when the crisis started. We collected a nationally representative sample of Finnish workers before (N = 1308) and during (N = 1081) the COVID-19 crisis. Outcome measures included technostress and work exhaustion. Multilevel linear mixed-effects regression models investigated formal and informal SMC at work. Covariates included cyberbullying at work, social media usage, personality, occupational status, and sociodemographic factors. Results showed that formal SMC increased and predicted higher technostress. However, technostress and work exhaustion decreased among workers already accustomed to using SMC at work before the crisis. The results indicate a disparity in workers{\textquoteright} resilience during remote work and highlight a need for organizational level support.",

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note = "Funding Information: This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project, project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen). Funding Information: This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project , project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",

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AU - Oksa, Reetta

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AU - Savolainen, Iina

AU - Kaakinen, Markus

N1 - Funding Information: This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project, project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen). Funding Information: This research has received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project , project number 118055 PI: Atte Oksanen). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

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N2 - The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus and the associated disease (COVID-19) has changed working conditions due to social-distancing policies. Many workers started to use new technologies at work, including social media applications. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the potential stress effects of social media communication (SMC) at work. Based on our integrative theoretical model, we expected that SMC at work would burden some workers, but those who were accustomed to SMC at work would be better off when the crisis started. We collected a nationally representative sample of Finnish workers before (N = 1308) and during (N = 1081) the COVID-19 crisis. Outcome measures included technostress and work exhaustion. Multilevel linear mixed-effects regression models investigated formal and informal SMC at work. Covariates included cyberbullying at work, social media usage, personality, occupational status, and sociodemographic factors. Results showed that formal SMC increased and predicted higher technostress. However, technostress and work exhaustion decreased among workers already accustomed to using SMC at work before the crisis. The results indicate a disparity in workers’ resilience during remote work and highlight a need for organizational level support.

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COVID-19 crisis and digital stressors at work: A longitudinal study on the Finnish working population

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Publication forum classification

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Datasets

Sosiaalinen media työelämässä: kansallinen työntekijäkysely 2019

Cite this