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Original Research

Open Access Special Issue

COVID-19 exposure and mental wellbeing of European male employees

  • Faisal Mahmood1
  • Antonio Ariza-Montes2,*,
  • Maria Saleem3
  • Heesup Han4,*,

1The University of Faisalabad, 38000 Punjab, Pakistan

2Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain

3The University of Lahore, 54590 Lahore, Pakistan

4College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 05006 Seoul, Republic of Korea

DOI: 10.31083/j.jomh1807145 Vol.18,Issue 7,July 2022 pp.1-11

Submitted: 29 September 2021 Accepted: 17 November 2022

Published: 31 July 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 impact on men's mental health)

*Corresponding Author(s): Antonio Ariza-Montes E-mail: ariza@uloyola.es
*Corresponding Author(s): Heesup Han E-mail: heesup.han@gmail.com

Abstract

Background: The present research intends to identify the determinants of men’s mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fear and uncertainty caused by this pandemic and its prolongation have caused a considerable rise in mental health disorders. In a very short time, much research has been conducted examining the main consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ mental health. Some studies pointed out that COVID-19 stressors significantly affect individuals, and some statistics suggest that the pandemic affects men and women differently. However, the literature on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on men’s mental health remains limited. This research attempted to fill these gaps in the literature by examining an essential research question about the determinants of men’s mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This research uses a dataset collected on Eurofound’s Living, Working, and COVID-19 survey, and the full sample consisted of 24,123 European citizens. The sample was split into two main groups: men (N = 3577) and women (N = 8744). This research uses linear regression methodology to investigate the mental wellbeing of male employees. The input method was applied to estimate two regression models, one for men and one for women. Results: Our results revealed that men’s exposure to COVID-19 infection deteriorates their mental wellbeing. Similarly, some organizational factors also determined men’s mental wellbeing, such as working under fixed employment contracts, feelings of doing useful work, and satisfaction with the quality of work. Finally, individual and attitudinal factors contributed to determining the mental wellbeing of male employees, optimism about the future, general health, positive feelings about themselves, and overall life satisfaction. Conclusion: This research deduces that men’s mental wellbeing is determined by factors that are different from those of women employees. In conclusion, this research deduces that men’s good mental wellbeing is determined differently from women employees. Specifically, we identified that exposure to COVID-19, employment contracts at the job, feelings of doing useful work, satisfaction with the quality of work, resilience, age, life satisfaction, general health, optimism about the future, and feeling positive about themselves are the key determinants of men’s health.


Keywords

men’s mental wellbeing; COVID-19 pandemic; eurofound’s living; organizational factors; individual and attitudinal factors


Cite and Share

Faisal Mahmood,Antonio Ariza-Montes,Maria Saleem,Heesup Han. COVID-19 exposure and mental wellbeing of European male employees. Journal of Men's Health. 2022. 18(7);1-11.

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