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Telework during COVID-19 outbreak: Impact on mental health among Italian workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

V. Bertino ,
V. Nisticò ,
A. D’Agostino ,
O. Gambini  and
B. Demartini
V. Bertino*
Affiliation:
Unità Di Psichiatria Ii, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Presidio San Paolo, Milano, Italy
V. Nisticò
Affiliation:
Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy “aldo Ravelli” Research Center For Neurotechnology And Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
A. D’Agostino
Affiliation:
Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
O. Gambini
Affiliation:
Dipartimento Di Scienze Della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
B. Demartini
Affiliation:
“aldo Ravelli” Research Center For Neurotechnology And Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Since February 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has spread to several countries worldwide, including Italy, leading to an uptake of telework.

Objectives

We aim to evaluate the psychopathological impact of teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, identifying mental health determinants among home-based workers.

Methods

804 participants completed an online survey, including the psychometric scales “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items” (DASS-21) and the “Insomnia Severity Index” (ISI). Teleworkers were also asked to provide information about their current work routine, home environment and clinical history.

Results

At the DASS-21, 30% of the participants presented pathological levels of depression, 20.8% of anxiety and 30.7% of stress. At the ISI, 5% appeared to suffer from insomnia. Respondents with psychological and physical frailties, greater social isolation or inadequate working spaces manifested higher levels of psychiatric symptoms. Moreover, we also find a correlation of these symptoms with occupations in education. Telework was broadly appreciated and 87% of respondents expressed a willingness to maintain access to this arrangement.

Conclusions

Our results document that about a third of our sample manifested psychopathological symptoms while teleworking during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. However, telework itself does not seem to be directly associated with increased psychiatric symptoms, which were instead exacerbated by COVID-19-related stressful circumstances, as well as by constitutional and social determinants of health. Going forward, authorities should promote adequate measures in order to guarantee a healthy approach to teleworking.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

stressTeleworkingAnxietyDepression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S678
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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