Fear of COVID-19 and employee mental health in quarantine hotels: The role of self-compassion and psychological resilience at work

Kavitha Haldorai; Woo Gon Kim; Charoenchai Agmapisarn; Jun Justin Li

doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103491

Fear of COVID-19 and employee mental health in quarantine hotels: The role of self-compassion and psychological resilience at work

Int J Hosp Manag. 2023 May:111:103491. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103491. Epub 2023 Apr 6.

Authors

Kavitha Haldorai¹, Woo Gon Kim², Charoenchai Agmapisarn³, Jun Justin Li^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ International Center for Hospitality Research & Development, Dedman College of Hospitality, Florida State University, 288 Champions Way, UCB 4117, P.O. Box 3062541, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
² International Center for Hospitality Research & Development, Dedman College of Hospitality, Florida State University, 288 Champions Way, UCB 4115, P.O. Box 3062541, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
³ Graduate School of Tourism Management, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), 148 Serithai Road, Klong-Chan, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand.
⁴ School of Tourism Management, South China Normal University, Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁵ Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Taipa, Macau.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive and unprecedented impact on the mental health of individuals worldwide. Quarantine hotel employees not only endured enormous upheavals when providing service to quarantine guests during obligatory quarantine periods, but also experienced the high mental stress that comes with the risk of exposure and contagion of themselves, their friends, and their families. This study investigated the impact of the fear of COVID-19 on mental health problems. The moderating roles of self-compassion and psychological resilience were also examined. Data was collected from 360 employees from thirteen "Alternative State Quarantine" hotels in Thailand. The results suggested that fear of COVID-19 positively influenced mental health problems. Self-compassion and psychological resilience at work buffered the detrimental impact of fear of COVID-19 on mental health. This three-way interaction demonstrated that employees with high self-compassion and high resilience coped better. The theoretical and practical implications for hospitality managers are discussed.

Keywords: Fear of COVID-19; Mental health; Psychological resilience; Quarantine hotels; Self-compassion.