Gender difference in working from home and psychological distress - A national survey of U.S. employees during the COVID-19 pandemic
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated broad and extensive changes in the way people live and work. While the general subject of working from home has recently drawn increased attention, few studies have assessed gender differences in vulnerability to the potential mental health effects of working from home. Using data from 1,585 workers who participated in the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) study, a national survey conducted in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, associations of working from home with psychological distress were examined with weighted logistic regression among 1,585 workers and stratified by gender. It was found that workers who worked from home had higher odds of psychological distress (aOR and 95% CI = 2.62 [1.46, 4.70]) compared to workers who did not work from home, adjusting for demographic factors, socioeconomic status, and health behaviors. In gender-stratified analyses, this positive association between working from home and psychological distress was significant in women (aOR and 95% CI = 3.68 [1.68, 8.09]) but not in men. These results have implications for female workers' mental health in the transition towards working from home in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
Source: Industrial Health
Institutions: University of California, Los Angeles, NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, New York University, American Cancer Society, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, University of Georgia, Clemson University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, University of Utah, Miami University, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Language: English
Topic: COVID-19 and Mental Health
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Award: G2551100229
OpenAlex ID: W4280510333