Comprehending and measuring pandemic induced stress among professionals due to lockdown and work from home

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Richa Srivastava,Srikant Gupta,M. A. Sanjeev
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2791

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Comprehending and measuring pandemic induced stress

among professionals due to lockdown and work from home

Richa Srivastava

1

| Srikant Gupta

2

| M. A. Sanjeev

3

1

Operations and Decision Sciences, Jaipuria

Institute of Management, Lucknow

2

Operations and Decision Sciences, Jaipuria

Institute of Management, Jaipur

3

Marketing, Jaipuria Institute of Management,

Lucknow

Correspondence

Richa Srivastava, Operations and Decision

Sciences, Jaipuria Institute of Management,

Lucknow.

Email: rsrivastava.bhu@gmail.com

Covid-19, a once-in-a-century pandemic, has caused a great deal of anxiety world-

wide. In addition to the apparent virus-induced morbidity and mortality, pandemic-

induced stress has contributed to the lack of human wellbeing during Covid-19. Most

efforts have gone into understanding the physical effects and less on the pandemic's

mental effects. The new normal of social distancing and work-from-home (WFH),

requiring disconcerting home confinement levels, has been a prime cause of stress.

The pandemic-induced stress encompasses infection-related suffering, economic and

professional loss, social isolation caused by lockdowns, information-induced anxiety,

need to integrate work and life—from earlier balancing them, and stress-induced by

sudden changes in the routine. The study's primary objective is to develop and vali-

date a scale to measure lockdown and WFH-induced stress among professionals in

employment. The result indicates three significant stressors: job stress, social stress,

and routine stress affecting professionals due to lockdown and WFH. The study

results would help employers, and healthcare professionals measure the lockdown

and WFH-induced stress among working professionals, which is a prerequisite for

managing the same through appropriate interventions.

KEYWORDS

confirmatory factor analysis, Covid-19, depth interview, pandemic, principal component

analysis, stress

1|INTRODUCTION

The once-in-a-century black swan event of Covid-19 has been instru-

mental in changing human lives, bringing in a new normal to our lives.

Since its initial outbreak in 2019 in Wuhan, China, the viral infection has

marchedontocoverthewholeworld. Its impact has been tremendous—

the word was brought to a virtual standstill with the movement of men

and material completely halted. The seriousness of the viral infection

prompted WHO to declare it a pandemic in February 2020; the last one,

the Spanish flu, had occurred precisely a century ago. The pandemic has

since gone on to create destruction to human lives and the economy.

The morbidity and mortality have been high due to the highly infectious

nature of the virus. The vaccinations are at only an initial stage (and rein-

fection among the vaccinated are galore), and there is no confirmed cure

(and none in sight). Social distancing and personal hygiene (frequent

sanitization and wearing masks to prevent virus spread through the

respiratory route) have been the most widely used method to control

the pandemic. There has been widespread lockdown of public facilities,

institutions, and transportation, with ordinary people being homebound

for long periods to avoid community spread of the infection. The subse-

quent waves worldwide have ensured no end to the restriction in the

near times (Sanjeev et al., 2021). Though institutions have worked hard

to ensure the normality of human life by creating policies and facilities to

promote everyday life, like work from home and study from home, the

pandemic's impact has been indelible on economic and social existence.

Human beings are social animals, and this kind of shutdown of social life

and the economy has led to newer troubles. Most important among

them are the pandemic-induced stress created by the lockdown and

work from home (WFH). The stress has affected all sections of society,

be it a homemaker, a professional, or a student, and has had a

Received: 8 February 2021 Revised: 20 September 2021 Accepted: 28 October 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2791

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2791. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of12

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2791