Prevalence and Factors Associated with Mental Health Problems among Essential and Nonessential Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 2021, in an Unstable and Developing Country: A Cross-Sectional Study

The two main goals of this research were to assess workers' mental health (anxiety, depression, and job burnout syndrome) and examine factors related to mental health burdens in two groups of workers. The study was conducted as an online cross-sectional study. The target population consists of workers in essential activities who worked during the pandemic (health, defense, trade, finance, and media), as well as a group of workers who were particularly impacted by the protection measures and either worked under a different regime or were unable to work (caterers, musicians). A questionnaire was constructed for the needs of this research and the scales for anxiety, depression, and burnout syndrome were used. In total, 42.2% of non-essential workers and 39.5% of essential workers reported anxiety symptoms, circa 20% of non-essential activity workers and essential activity workers reported depression, and 28.9% of non-essential activity workers and 33.7% of essential activity workers reported burnout. A significant association has been found between certain sociodemographic and health characteristics of respondents, as well as financial stress (worry about losing a job), social stress, media stress, and respondents' trust in competent authorities and COVID-19 prevention measures, and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and burnout syndrome. The findings of this study pointed to mental health issues in other activities and highlighted the need for and importance of examining mental health in the population of non-essential activities. It is indicative of significant points that can be investigated in the future for prevention. © 2023 by the authors.

The roles of privacy concerns and trust in voluntary use of governmental proximity tracing applications

A growing aspect of e-government is healthcare-related. Although preventative e-health services provided by governments like proximity tracing applications (PTAs) can bring important benefits, their adoption is lagging behind expectations. Researchers and policymakers need a better understanding of the factors that influence their adoption. The paper draws from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model and extends it by including privacy concerns as an explanatory factor regarding the intention to use PTAs. The study empirically evaluates the impact of privacy concerns together with two of its antecedents – trust in government and trust in technology – on the intention to use a PTA. Data from 762 adult respondents from Slovenia and Germany were collected and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The main findings are: (1) even in the unique context of a PTA the universal predictors of UTAUT have a significant impact;(2) privacy concerns have a direct impact on intention to use;and (3) trust in government and trust in technology both have a significant impact on privacy concerns. The theoretical implications are important for technology adoption research on e-health services provided by the government generally and PTAs in particular. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.