Physical and psychological fatigue, and work performance among Brazilian workers during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic in Brazil.

The lockdown requirement, caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), led to people having to follow a work from home regime. This pandemic made workers more vulnerable, causing emotional disorders that impacted their work performance. This online survey aimed to identify the psychological and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Brazilian workers, testing the predictive effect between physical and emotional fatigue factors, and expectations about their performance. The participants were 153 workers from different sectors or departments of the University of Brasilia following the work from home modality. To achieve the main aim of this study, the questionnaire 'Feeling Fatigue Scale' by Yoshitake, and the nine items of the 'Achievement' factor of the 'Well-being at Work' questionnaire by Paschoal and Tamayowere applied. Study data were collected between February and August 2020. Statistically significant differences were found between cognitive aspects (difficulties in attention to work, p = .001,) expectations regarding performance (p = .035), and the impact of fatigue on the body (p = .021) when comparing the profile of workers from the areas of exact sciences, health, and social and human sciences. Workers who reported more extreme difficulty in attention had lower expectations regarding the performance achieved in the exercise of their duties (R2 adjusted = .271, p < .001). The results demonstrate the importance of planning public policies aimed at promoting mental and physical health at work.

Skills for Working from Home: Construction and validation of the scale

Many workers migrated to teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Performing work tasks entirely at home brought challenges, especially for those who had no previous experience with the modality, such as work-family conciliation and the use of digital technologies. This study reports the development and evidence of psychometric validity of the Skills for Working from Home scale (SWHS). The survey was applied to 7,608 government employees from Brazilian public agencies. Descriptive statistical analyses, and exploratory, confirmatory, and reliability factor analyses were performed. The instrument has a bifactorial empirical structure that assesses skills for balancing work and other activities (soft skills) and skills for using digital communication resources in work interactions (hard skills). The SWHS can be used to identify the adaptation and preparation for working from home, as well as to investigate possible associations between these skills and other indicators (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Portuguese) Muitos trabalhadores migraram para o teletrabalho durante a pandemia de COVID-19. A realizacao das tarefas integralmente em casa trouxe desafios, principalmente aqueles que nao possuiam experiencia anterior com a modalidade, como a conciliacao trabalho-familia e o uso de tecnologias digitais. Este estudo relata o desenvolvimento e as evidencias de validade psicometrica da Escala de Habilidades para o Teletrabalho em Casa (EHTC). A pesquisa foi aplicada a 7.608 servidores de diferentes orgaos publicos brasileiros. Realizaram-se analises estatisticas descritivas, fatoriais exploratorias e confirmatorias e de confiabilidade. O instrumento possui uma estrutura empirica bifatorial que avalia habilidades para o balanceamento entre trabalho e outras atividades (soft skills) e para utilizacao de recursos digitais nas interacoes de trabalho (hard skills). A EHTC pode ser usada para identificar a adaptacao e o preparo para o teletrabalho em casa e investigar associacoes entre essas habilidades e outros indicadores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) Muchos trabajadores migraron para el teletrabajo durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Realizar las tareas integralmente en casa trajo desafios, especialmente para quienes no tenian experiencia previa con la modalidad, como la conciliacion trabajo-familia y el uso de tecnologias digitales. Este estudio reporta el desarrollo y las evidencias de validad psicometrica de la Escala de Habilidades para el Teletrabajo en Casa (EHTC). La investigacion se aplico a 7.608 funcionarios de organos publicos brasilenos. Se realizaron analisis estadisticos descriptivos, factoriales exploratorios, confirmatorios y de confiabilidad. El instrumento posee una estructura empirica bifactorial que evalua habilidades para equilibrar el trabajo y otras actividades (soft skills) y para el uso de recursos digitales en las interacciones laborales (hard skills). La EHTC puede ser utilizada para identificar la adaptacion y preparacion para el teletrabajo en casa e investigar posibles asociaciones entre estas habilidades y otros indicadores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)