Psychological Distress among University Staff before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Takaki Tanifuji; Kentaro Mouri; Yasuji Yamamoto; Shinsuke Aoyama

doi:10.3390/ijerph20032208

Psychological Distress among University Staff before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 26;20(3):2208. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032208.

Authors

Takaki Tanifuji¹, Kentaro Mouri^{2

3}, Yasuji Yamamoto^{2

3}, Shinsuke Aoyama¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
² Kobe University Inclusive Campus & Healthcare Center, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Biosignal Pathophysiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.

Abstract

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has distressed many populations worldwide, and since its beginning, many institutes have performed cross-sectional studies to assess mental health. We longitudinally examined psychological distress and depressive symptoms among university staff in Japan from 2019 to 2021, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.; (2) Methods: Participants were teachers and hospital staff working at institutions related to Kobe University, who completed the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) from 2019 to 2021. This study used the definition recommended by the guideline to identify high-stress. We analyzed the relationship between those who identified as having high-stress before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic using logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age, sex, and occupation).; (3) Results: Results showed that Stress Reaction scores increased slightly in 2020 and significantly in 2021. Time and other factors had a synergistic effect on mental health. The increase in Stress Reaction was significantly associated with females and nurses over the three years. Those with high-stress in 2019 had approximately twenty-fold odds ratios (OR) of having high-stress in 2020 and 2021.; (4) Conclusions: The long-term COVID-19 pandemic may disturb university staff's mental health. Those who originally experienced high levels of stress were vulnerable to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; mental health; occupational health; psychological distress; universities.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression / epidemiology
Depression / psychology
Female
Humans
Pandemics
Psychological Distress*
SARS-CoV-2
Stress, Psychological / epidemiology
Universities

Grants and funding

This study received financial support from the foundation of Kinoshita Memorial Enterprise. The funding source was not involved in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, or publication decision.