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Psychosocial Risks of the New Work Modalities in the COVID Era

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 25568

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Santiago Gascón

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: work stress; intervention; burnout
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marco Tomietto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, POBox 5000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
Interests: nursing science and health management
Dr. Adriana Jiménez-Muro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departament of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, 44003 Teruel, Spain
Interests: pyschology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global pandemic generated by COVID-19 forced the economy to adapt to new ways of working, especially working from home, proving the long-defended concept that it was not necessary to spend so many hours in the work environment and helping toward reconciliation between personal, family, and work life. Many of these modalities are likely to survive in the future, post-pandemic, e.g., meetings via videoconference, sending reports via email, or networking. There have also been many risks that this new lifestyle can entail, however, such as presenteeism, excess working hours, lack of time separation, work addiction, overload due to multiple routes, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of personal contact, among others. All of these are beginning to show their effects on people’s physical and psychological health in the form of anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, mental exhaustion, alcohol and substance use, and obesity.

This Special Issue invites papers on the above topics, and especially:

  • Telecommuting and workaholism;
  • Mental overload due to the diversity of channels;
  • Absence of limits between personal and work life.

Dr. Santiago Gascón
Dr. Marco Tomietto
Dr. Adriana Jiménez-Muro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • working from home
  • workaholism
  • stress
  • exhaustion
  • insomnia

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 350 KiB  
Article
New Work Poses New Challenges—The Importance of Work Design Competencies Revealed in Cluster Analysis
by Fiona Niebuhr, Greta M. Steckhan and Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14107; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192114107 - 28 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1416
Abstract
The continuous transformation process in the world of work, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, is giving employees more scope to shape their own work. This scope can be experienced as a burden or as a resource for employees. Work design competencies (WDC) describe [...] Read more.
The continuous transformation process in the world of work, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, is giving employees more scope to shape their own work. This scope can be experienced as a burden or as a resource for employees. Work design competencies (WDC) describe employees’ experience of their scope for design. Our study draws on existing datasets based on two Germany-wide studies. We used hierarchical cluster analyses to examine patterns between WDC, the age of employees (range: 18–71 years), the amount of weekly work time working from home (WFH), and work ability. In total, the data of N = 1232 employees were analyzed, and 735 of them participated in Study 1. To test the validity of the clusters, we analyzed data from N = 497 employees in Study 2. In addition, a split-half validation was performed with the data from Study 1. In both studies, three clusters emerged that differed in age and work ability. The cluster with the highest mean of WDC comprised employees that were on average older and reported a higher mean of work ability. Regarding WFH, no clear patterns emerged. The results and further theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Overall, WDC appear to be relevant to work ability and, in a broader sense, to occupational health, and are related to sociodemographic factors such as age. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Risks of the New Work Modalities in the COVID Era)
17 pages, 732 KiB  
Article
Work from Home Challenges of the Pandemic Era in Hong Kong: A Stimulus-Organism-Response Perspective
by Tai Ming Wut, Stephanie Wing Lee and Jing (Bill) Xu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(6), 3420; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19063420 - 14 Mar 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3405
Abstract
Hong Kong is an international city where almost all the companies did not have a WFH policy before the pandemic since it is a very small place. During the pandemic period, Hong Kong governments, major banks and large private organizations have adopted WFH [...] Read more.
Hong Kong is an international city where almost all the companies did not have a WFH policy before the pandemic since it is a very small place. During the pandemic period, Hong Kong governments, major banks and large private organizations have adopted WFH policy. The purpose of this article is to examine impact of work from home (WFH) practice on work engagement with the company during the pandemic period in Hong Kong. According to a stimulus-organism-response model, this study explores the dark side the WFH arrangement during the pandemic period. Convenience sampling method was used to collect 206 valid responses from individuals who were working from home in Hong Kong. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used in the analysis of data. It was found that teamwork climate is negatively associated with physical isolation and sense of belonging is negatively associated with psychological isolation. Work engagement was impaired. Affective social presence may not be so easily established through virtual ways. Virtual informal gatherings, such as virtual breakfasts, lunch or tea breaks where work-related matters are not discussed, could be arranged. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Risks of the New Work Modalities in the COVID Era)
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14 pages, 369 KiB  
Article
Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction
by Fiona Niebuhr, Prem Borle, Franziska Börner-Zobel and Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1122; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031122 - 20 Jan 2022
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 19801
Abstract
In addition to its catastrophic health effects, the COVID-19 pandemic also acts as a catalyst for new forms of work. Working from home (WFH) has become commonplace for many people worldwide. But under what circumstances is WFH beneficial and when does it increase [...] Read more.
In addition to its catastrophic health effects, the COVID-19 pandemic also acts as a catalyst for new forms of work. Working from home (WFH) has become commonplace for many people worldwide. But under what circumstances is WFH beneficial and when does it increase harms to health? The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of specific characteristics of WFH for health (work ability, stress-related physical and psychological symptoms) and job satisfaction among German employees. The study is based on data from a Germany-wide panel survey with employees from different industries (n = 519). Using multiple regressions, it was found that the functionality of the technical equipment at home has positive effects on the health of employees (i.e., ability to work, stress-related symptoms) and job satisfaction. The percentual weekly amount of WFH influences stress-related symptoms, i.e., a higher amount of weekly working time WFH, was associated with more stress-related symptoms. Furthermore, it negatively influences job satisfaction. The feeling of increased autonomy leads to positive effects on employees’ job satisfaction. The results provide starting points for interventions and indicate the need for legal regulations for WFH. Further theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Risks of the New Work Modalities in the COVID Era)
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