Impact of work arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in France

Mental health in Germany before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Based on nationally representative panel data (N person-years = 40,020; N persons = 18,704; Panel Labour Market and Social Security; PASS) from 2018 to 2022, we investigate how mental health changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ time-distributed fixed effects regressions to show that mental health (Mental Health Component Summary Score of the SF-12) decreased from the first COVID-19 wave in 2020 onward, leading to the most pronounced mental health decreases during the Delta wave, which began in August 2021. In the summer of 2022, mental health had not returned to baseline levels. An analysis of the subdomains of the mental health measure indicates that long-term negative mental health changes are mainly driven by declines in psychological well-being and calmness. Furthermore, our results indicate no clear patterns of heterogeneity between age groups, sex, income, education, migrant status, childcare responsibilities or pre-COVID-19 health status. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a uniform effect on mental health in the German adult population and did not lead to a widening of health inequalities in the long run.

Occupational and non-occupational factors of post-COVID-19 condition: a cross-sectional survey in the French general working population

Introduction

Although the working population carries the greatest burden of long COVID, occupational and non-occupational factors of the condition have not yet been well documented in this population. The aim of this study was to investigate these factors.

Methods

A nationwide random sampling cross-sectional survey was conducted among the adult population in mainland France after the large Omicron waves in the autumn of 2022. Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) was defined according to the WHO. Associations of occupational and non-occupational factors with PCC were tested in a conceptual model accounting for the relationships between these factors and considering two control groups (previously infected participants without PCC and participants with no reported or diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection). Interactions between occupational and non-occupational factors were considered.

Results

The survey included 1131 working adults. PCC was positively associated with reported infection while providing care (prevalence ratio (PR)=2.06 (95% CI 1.08 to 3.94)), being in contact with a colleague (PR=1.61 (95% CI 1.04 to 2.48)) and increased workload (PR=2.85 (95% CI 1.12 to 7.24)), whereas it was negatively associated with reported infection while being in contact with the public or clients (PR=0.23 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.76)). Several non-occupational factors were associated with PCC: sex, household size, household financial satisfaction, number of pre-existing chronic conditions, anxiety, injury sequelae and perceived SARS-CoV-2 infection severity. No interactions were found between these factors.

Conclusions

Reducing the burden of long COVID in the working population requires public health strategies that consider a wide spectrum of factors, including work conditions in a broad sense. Specific attention should be given to the most vulnerable workers accumulating such factors.

Trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: A longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND

Most COVID-19-related mental health research focused on average levels of mental health parameters in the general population. However, considering heterogeneous groups and their long-term responses could deepen our understanding of mental health during community crises. This four-wave study aimed to (1) identify subgroups with different trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms in the German general population, and (2) investigate associated risk factors.

METHODS

We analyzed self-report data from N = 1257 German adults participating in a European cohort study, assessed in summer 2020 (T1), and at 6 (T2), 12 (T3), and 30 months (T4). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured using the PHQ-4. Sociodemographic, health-related, and pandemic-related variables were assessed at baseline. We applied growth mixture modeling to identify subgroups of symptom trajectories and conducted multinomial logistic regression to examine factors associated with class membership.

RESULTS

We identified six symptom trajectories: Low-stable (n = 971, 77.2 %), Continuous deterioration (n = 30, 2.4 %), Transient deterioration (n = 75, 6.0 %), Continuous improvement (n = 97, 7.7 %), Transient improvement (n = 38, 3.0 %) and Chronicity (n = 46, 3.7 %). Age, education, work status, mental health diagnoses, self-reported health, and pandemic-related news consumption were significantly associated with subgroup membership.

LIMITATIONS

The generalizability of the study is constrained by an unrepresentative sampling method, a notable dropout rate, and limited consideration of risk factors.

CONCLUSION

Most people experienced low symptoms or improvement during the pandemic, while others experienced chronic or transient symptoms. Specific risk factors were associated with these trajectories, revealing nuanced mental health dynamics.

Stress at Work and Well-being Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study in Switzerland

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to analyze the development of conditions at work and health-related variables (notably exhaustion) in Switzerland longitudinally before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Questionnaire data were collected from a population-based sample of 1,553 employees in February 2020 and 1 year later. Health and well-being associated with ( a ) working conditions in general and ( b ) COVID-19-specific predictors such as worries about being infected and conditions for working at home were analyzed using analysis of (co)variance and multiple regression.

RESULTS

Conditions at work and well-being were stable overall, even indicating slight improvements, notably for men compared with women. Both an index representing stressors and resources at work in general (Job Stress Index) and a COVID-19-related demand index showed consistent effects on health and the effect of COVID-19-related demands was stronger if the Job Stress Index deteriorated than when it improved.

Unleashing the link between the relaxation of the COVID-19 control policy and residents' mental health in China: the mediating role of family tourism consumption

Objective

COVID-19 has negatively influenced industrial development, family consumption, and residents' mental health. Unfortunately, it has not yet been studied whether this adverse situation can be alleviated after the relaxation of the COVID-19 control policy (RCC). Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effect of the RCC on the resident's mental health and the mediating effect of family tourism consumption.

Methods

By using the PSM and mediating effetc model to research the panel data of two periods (April 2021 and April 2023) for Shaanxi province, China.

Results

The RCC negatively inhibited the mental health severity of residents, and the mental health severity decreased by 0.602. In particular, the RCC showed the most substantial negative effect on residents' stress, followed by anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, it is found that the impact of the RCC on the mental health of residents is highly heterogeneous. The RCC indicates a linear significant effect on the mental health of residents under 60 years of age, while the results were found insignificant for residents above 60 years of age. Meanwhile, the RCC's improvement effect on urban residents' mental health is greater than that of rural residents. In addition, mechanism analysis showed that tourism consumption plays a mediating role in the influence of the RCC on the mental health of residents, and the mediating effect accounted for 24.58% of the total effect.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, the study proposes that government and policymakers should strengthen mental health intervention, improve access to mental health counseling, stimulate economic development, expand the employment of residents, and track the mutation of the novel coronavirus.