Hamburg Center for University Teaching and Learning (HUL), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Department of Health Care Management, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (HCHE), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
PLoS One. 2022 Jun 2;17(6):e0264602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264602. eCollection 2022.
Empirical evidence on the social and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace and the resulting consequences for the mental health of employees is lacking. As a result, research on this subject is urgently needed to develop appropriate countermeasures. This study builds on Person-Environment fit theory to investigate social connections at work and mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyses employees' needs for social connections and how social connections affect different mental health measures. Data were collected in May 2020 in an online survey of employees across Germany and analysed using response surface analysis. Mental health was measured as positive mental health and mental health disorders. Social connections were measured as social support and social interactions. 507 employees participated in the survey and more than one third reported having less social support and social interaction at work than they desired (p < .001). This was associated with a decrease in mental health. In contrast, having more than the desired amount of social support was associated with a decrease, and having more than the desired amount of social interaction with an increase, in mental health. This study provides important early evidence on the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace. With it, we aim to stimulate further research in the field and provide early evidence on the potential mental health consequences of social distancing-while also opening avenues to combat them.
关于 COVID-19 大流行对工作场所的社会和心理影响及其对员工心理健康造成的后果的实证证据尚缺乏。因此，迫切需要对这一主题进行研究，以制定相应的对策。本研究基于人-环境匹配理论，调查了 COVID-19 大流行第一波期间工作中的社会联系和心理健康。它分析了员工对社会联系的需求以及社会联系如何影响不同的心理健康措施。数据于 2020 年 5 月在德国各地员工的在线调查中收集，并使用响应面分析进行分析。心理健康的衡量标准是积极的心理健康和心理健康障碍。社会联系的衡量标准是社会支持和社会互动。共有 507 名员工参与了调查，超过三分之一的员工报告称，他们在工作中的社会支持和社会互动比他们期望的要少（p<.001）。这与心理健康的下降有关。相比之下，拥有超过所需数量的社会支持与心理健康下降有关，而拥有超过所需数量的社会互动与心理健康上升有关。本研究提供了 COVID-19 大流行第一波对工作场所影响的重要早期证据。我们希望以此激发该领域的进一步研究，并提供关于社交距离可能带来的心理健康后果的早期证据——同时也为应对这些后果开辟途径。
