TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 Anxiety and Wellbeing at Work in Finland during 2020–2022
T2 - A 5-Wave Longitudinal Survey Study
AU - Oksanen, Atte
AU - Oksa, Reetta
AU - Celuch, Magdalena
AU - Cvetkovic, Anica
AU - Savolainen, Iina
N1 - Funding Information:
This research received funding from the Finnish Work Environment Fund (Professional Social Media Use and Work Engagement Among Young Adults Project, project number 118055, principal investigator: Atte Oksanen). Data collection was also partly funded by the Tampere University and the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Information and Communication Technologies in Work Life during COVID-19 pandemic: a Longitudinal Study on Worker Wellbeing in 2019–2022 Project, decision 2021, project: number: 00220764, PI: Atte Oksanen). Reetta Oksa received a personal 2-year grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic impacted workers globally during 2020–2022 and it has had major psychological implications for workers’ wellbeing. This longitudinal study analyzed risk and protective factors predicting COVID-19 anxiety among workers in Finland. Longitudinal national sample of Finnish workers (n = 685) participated in a five-wave study conducted in 2020–2022, covering multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Our outcome measure was COVID-19 anxiety. Predictors were psychological distress, work exhaustion, technostress, and loneliness. Models also controlled for self-regulation; social support at work and remote working; and socio-demographic background factors. Both within-person and between-person effects were analyzed using multilevel hybrid regression models. COVID-19 anxiety varied between time points which is explained by changes in circumstances during the pandemic. Highest anxiety was expressed in the middle of the Delta variant surge and lockdown in spring 2021. Within-person changes in psychological distress, work exhaustion, technostress, self-regulation, and perceived loneliness were all associated with COVID-19 anxiety. Between-person results showed that distressed, exhausted, technostressed, and lonely workers expressed more anxiety than others. Remote workers reported higher anxiety over time than others. Those who had reported high self-regulation reported lower anxiety than others. Female gender and younger age were associated with higher anxiety. COVID-19 anxiety continues to be an important phenomenon with a magnitude of consequences on people and numerous industries. This study showed that general mental health and work stressors predict COVID-19 anxiety. Promoting social support and workers’ self-regulation skills can be beneficial for overcoming anxiety during and after the pandemic.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic impacted workers globally during 2020–2022 and it has had major psychological implications for workers’ wellbeing. This longitudinal study analyzed risk and protective factors predicting COVID-19 anxiety among workers in Finland. Longitudinal national sample of Finnish workers (n = 685) participated in a five-wave study conducted in 2020–2022, covering multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Our outcome measure was COVID-19 anxiety. Predictors were psychological distress, work exhaustion, technostress, and loneliness. Models also controlled for self-regulation; social support at work and remote working; and socio-demographic background factors. Both within-person and between-person effects were analyzed using multilevel hybrid regression models. COVID-19 anxiety varied between time points which is explained by changes in circumstances during the pandemic. Highest anxiety was expressed in the middle of the Delta variant surge and lockdown in spring 2021. Within-person changes in psychological distress, work exhaustion, technostress, self-regulation, and perceived loneliness were all associated with COVID-19 anxiety. Between-person results showed that distressed, exhausted, technostressed, and lonely workers expressed more anxiety than others. Remote workers reported higher anxiety over time than others. Those who had reported high self-regulation reported lower anxiety than others. Female gender and younger age were associated with higher anxiety. COVID-19 anxiety continues to be an important phenomenon with a magnitude of consequences on people and numerous industries. This study showed that general mental health and work stressors predict COVID-19 anxiety. Promoting social support and workers’ self-regulation skills can be beneficial for overcoming anxiety during and after the pandemic.
KW - anxiety
KW - loneliness
KW - psychological distress
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - self-regulation
KW - social support
KW - work exhaustion
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph20010680
DO - 10.3390/ijerph20010680
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85146065666
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 20
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 680
ER -
