COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively impacted global economies and employment. In the UK, it is predicted that approximately eight million jobs were furloughed as a result of the outbreak and the associated restriction of movement or shielding measures. This study aimed...

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Main Authors: Bethany Chapman, Jessica Swainston, Elizabeth A. Grunfeld, Nazanin Derakshan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.582014/full
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spelling doaj-4993b8fa2bfe44fb9927617986ea72ff2020-11-25T04:00:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-10-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.582014582014COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast CancerBethany ChapmanJessica SwainstonElizabeth A. GrunfeldNazanin DerakshanThe outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively impacted global economies and employment. In the UK, it is predicted that approximately eight million jobs were furloughed as a result of the outbreak and the associated restriction of movement or shielding measures. This study aimed to investigate the impact of changes in employment status on cognitive and emotional health as well as perceptions of work. Furthermore, it examined the relationships between women’s job security and anxiety, depression and cognitive function. Women living with breast cancer (N = 234) completed online questionnaires to measure their cognitive function, general emotional well-being, COVID-19 related emotional vulnerability (COVID-EMV), work ability and COVID-19 related perceptions of work. Our results revealed that threat to job security was predictive of depression and cognitive function in the entire sample Such that those with higher levels of perceived job security had lower depression and better cognitive function. Further, women who were furloughed or unable to continue work reported higher job insecurity compared to those who had worked throughout the pandemic. Greater rumination was also associated with worse anxiety and depression as well as poorer cognitive function. Finally, moderation analysis highlighted that women who had better cognitive functioning were less likely to experience anxiety when their job security was high. Given our findings, we suggest that employers provide women with accessible interventions to enhance cognitive and emotional resilience and thus help protect against the detrimental effects of job insecurity created by the COVID-19 outbreak.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.582014/fullbreast cancerCOVID-19anxietydepressioncognitionemployment
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Bethany Chapman
Jessica Swainston
Elizabeth A. Grunfeld
Nazanin Derakshan
spellingShingle Bethany Chapman
Jessica Swainston
Elizabeth A. Grunfeld
Nazanin Derakshan
COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
Frontiers in Psychology
breast cancer
COVID-19
anxiety
depression
cognition
employment
author_facet Bethany Chapman
Jessica Swainston
Elizabeth A. Grunfeld
Nazanin Derakshan
author_sort Bethany Chapman
title COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
title_short COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
title_full COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
title_fullStr COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 Outbreak Effects on Job Security and Emotional Functioning Amongst Women Living With Breast Cancer
title_sort covid-19 outbreak effects on job security and emotional functioning amongst women living with breast cancer
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Psychology
issn 1664-1078
publishDate 2020-10-01
description The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively impacted global economies and employment. In the UK, it is predicted that approximately eight million jobs were furloughed as a result of the outbreak and the associated restriction of movement or shielding measures. This study aimed to investigate the impact of changes in employment status on cognitive and emotional health as well as perceptions of work. Furthermore, it examined the relationships between women’s job security and anxiety, depression and cognitive function. Women living with breast cancer (N = 234) completed online questionnaires to measure their cognitive function, general emotional well-being, COVID-19 related emotional vulnerability (COVID-EMV), work ability and COVID-19 related perceptions of work. Our results revealed that threat to job security was predictive of depression and cognitive function in the entire sample Such that those with higher levels of perceived job security had lower depression and better cognitive function. Further, women who were furloughed or unable to continue work reported higher job insecurity compared to those who had worked throughout the pandemic. Greater rumination was also associated with worse anxiety and depression as well as poorer cognitive function. Finally, moderation analysis highlighted that women who had better cognitive functioning were less likely to experience anxiety when their job security was high. Given our findings, we suggest that employers provide women with accessible interventions to enhance cognitive and emotional resilience and thus help protect against the detrimental effects of job insecurity created by the COVID-19 outbreak.
topic breast cancer
COVID-19
anxiety
depression
cognition
employment
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.582014/full
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