Housing conditions and changes in professional activity during lockdown and the risk of prevalent and incident depression: Findings from the CONSTANCES cohort.

BACKGROUND: Material conditions of lockdown and changes in regular functioning may have played a role on depressive manifestations. We aimed to examine the association between housing conditions and changes in professional activity and depression during the first COVID-19 outbreak in France. METHOD: Participants of the CONSTANCES cohort were followed online. A first questionnaire covered the lockdown period (assessing housing conditions and changes in professional activity), and a second the post-lockdown period (assessing depression using the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression-Scale (CES-D)). Incident depression was also estimated (with a previous CES-D measure). Logistic regression models were applied. RESULTS: 22,042 participants (median age 46 years, 53.2 % women) were included and 20,534 had a previous CES-D measure. Depression was associated with female gender, lower household income and past history of depression. A negative gradient between the number of rooms and the likelihood of depression was consistently observed (OR = 1.55 95 % [1.19-2.00] for one room, OR = 0.76 [0.65-0.88] for seven rooms), while a U-shape relationship was observed with the number of people living together (OR = 1.62 [1.42-1.84] for living alone, OR = 1.44 [1.07-1.92] for six persons). These associations were also observed with incident depression. Changes in professional activity were associated with depression (Started distance working (OR = 1.33 [1.17-1.50]). Starting distance working was also associated with incident depression (OR = 1.27 [1.08-1.48]). LIMITATION: A cross-sectional design was used. CONCLUSION: The consequences of lockdown on depression may vary depending on living conditions and changes in professional activity, including distance working. These results could help to better identify vulnerable people to promote mental health.

A Study of the Remote Working Efficiency in IT Project Implementation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Regarding the COVID-19 situation, the purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency and outcomes of information technology (IT) project implementation in the office versus in a remote environment with respect to factors such as productivity, effective teamwork, enjoyment of work, stress and pressure management, and opinions on working styles. The focus was mainly on the role of team members in the engineering mindset. Data was collected through a survey of IT project performance from team members. The questionnaire, which was developed for this study, included 105 respondents and was divided into three parts: 1) general information, 2) project performance results, and 3) engineering mindset concept. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results of the study indicated that there are significant differences in outcomes between project managers and other team members (such as developers, business analysts, and quality assurance) in terms of the studied factors, Project managers who need to communicate and collaborate with various team members may face challenges or limitations when working remotely. On the other hand, other roles in the project team that can be completed independently and do not require frequent communication with the rest of the team may find remote work more convenient and flexible. Importantly, the survey results also demonstrated that a team member's engineering mindset is a critical factor in the success or failure of projects. Those with a strong engineering mindset tend to implement and deliver projects effectively. Therefore, IT projects are more likely to be successful when the team has a good engineering mindset. © 2023, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society. All rights reserved.

ON VIRUSES AND HUMANS: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL CHALLENGES TO HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN REMOTE WORKING CONDITIONS

The current Covid-19 pandemic provoked alternative work arrangements and a large proportion of employees started to work from home. Despite the initial technological euphoria, this change started showing not only positive, but serious negative phenomena in terms not only of organization and daily practices, but also of psychological and managerial nature. It brought a lot of new questions and problems concerning all soft management elements, especially in the domains of corporate cultures, work motivation and individual psychological responses. This article provides an overview of some major issues of this type and offers ways of tackling them. The new normal is not exactly normal and the old one already seems irrevocably lived-through. While there is no doubt that the future will offer a lot more flexibility and various options for combined distant and office work arrangements, this article explains why the current extent of working from home should rather remain as a transitory element responding to the exceptional circumstances. © 2022, Bulgarska Akademiya na Naukite. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 lockdowns brought to light the challenges that women face in Mediterranean universities.

COVID-19 has caused considerable upheaval, necessitating a rethinking of higher education. Distance education has emerged as a major parallel issue that is changing the educational landscape. The lockdowns brought to light the challenges that women confront in academia. This study examines the impact of distance education on women's research activity at Mediterranean institutions, focusing on the additional constraints women faced as a result of e-learning. During the first lockdown (March to May 2020) there was a growing volume of media coverage, but fewer articles investigated how the pandemic's lockdown had affected women and men which increased fast in 2021. According to the findings, while the Mediterranean countries utilized different approaches to combat the epidemic, the impacts are surprisingly similar and must be recognized to avoid long-term consequences for women in higher education, science, and research. Lockdowns put added family responsibilities on female researchers, who were faced with more childcare and homework, resulting in less time to be part of a cohort creating new knowledge. Traditional cultural gender preconceptions were also uncovered, indicating the need for structural changes and repositioning. To meet UN SDG 4: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education," we must emerge from this pandemic more equal and robust to establish viable and inclusive universities that should implement policies and interventions to capitalize on female contributions to science, research, and innovation.