ABSTRACT
This dissertation consists of three related research studies investigating attire, social media, and the fear of missing out.The first research study, framed through impression management theory, investigates the association between an employee's chosen work attire and their work productivity while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two surveys collected the data for this research study. The first was completed in June 2020 and is an exploratory qualitative study and the second took place one year later, in June 2021, through an exploratory quantitative study. Results show a weak association between an employee's chosen work attire and self-perceived work productivity measures, specifically related to quality of work, work ethic, motivation at work, and mental health.The second study examines the relationship of social media use and financial hardship. Using insights from the financial capability framework and social identity theory, we ask, first, whether the frequency of social media use across the day is associated with an individual's ability to make ends meet and accumulate an emergency savings one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, this study examines the mediating role of fear of missing out. Using a general population sample from the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey at Washington University in St. Louis, ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regression findings indicate a strong relationship of social media use and financial outcomes, and that this relationship is partially mediated by the fear of missing out. These results shed light on the role of interventions that target the role of social media use in preventing financial hardship situations.The third study explores the relationship between the fear of missing out, parasocial interactions, social shopping, and wellbeing, specifically looking at social, psychological, and financial wellbeing. Using data collected via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk), this study examined individuals aged 18-40 who use social media and follow influencers. Structural equation modeling indicates significant relationships between six investigated relationships, including: (1) fear of missing out to parasocial interactions, (2), fear of missing out to social shopping, (3) fear of missing out to social, psychological, and financial wellbeing, (4) parasocial interactions to social shopping, (5) parasocial interactions to social, psychological, and financial wellbeing and, (6) social shopping to social, psychological, and financial wellbeing. These findings highlight the relationship that experiencing the fear of missing out can have on a person's wellbeing through parasocial interactions and social shopping. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Background: Studies have suggested that economic distress is associated with behavioral health outcomes, while availability of cash reserves for emergencies is associated with a reduction in economic distress. The objective of this study was to assess the extent that the availability of emergency cash reserves modified the association between experience of economic distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and behavioral health outcomes in the general adult population of Thailand. Methods: We conducted a nationally-representative phone-based survey in late April 2021. Survey questions included questions on experience of economic distress, and a question on what participants would do to cover a 5,000 Thai Bahts (THB) emergency expense within one week, anxiety and depression screening questions, and questions regarding sleep, exercise, gambling, smoking, and drinking behaviors. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses with adjustment for complex survey designs, and stratified analyses with assessment of heterogeneity of odds ratios between strata and assessment of additive and multiplicative interactions. Results: A total of 1,555 individuals from 15 provinces participated in the survey (participation rate = 68.3%). Approximately 19.6% ± 1.0% of the participants reported that they would cover the 5,000 THB emergency expense only with cash or cash equivalent without resorting to other means. Experience of economic distress was associated with anxiety disorder after adjusting for covariables (Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.47; 95% CI [1.45-4.19]). There was no evidence that availability of emergency cash reserves significantly modified the stated association, nor the association between experience of economic distress and other outcomes. However, with regard to anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and history of gambling in past 30 days, the p-for-trend values (p-for-trend < 0.001) suggested that those with emergency cash reserves had lower prevalence of these outcomes than those without emergency cash reserves. Conclusions: The study findings did not support our hypothesis that availability of emergency cash reserves modified the association between experience of economic distress and behavioral health outcomes. Nonetheless, the study findings can serve as potentially useful basic information for relevant stakeholders. Future studies should consider qualitative data collection and longitudinal study design in order to explore these associations at greater depths.
ABSTRACT
An estimated 3.5 million direct care staff working in facilities and people's homes play a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. They allow vulnerable care recipients to stay at home and they provide necessary help in facilities. Direct care staff, on average, have decades of experience, often have certifications and licenses, and many have at least some college education to help them perform the myriad of responsibilities to properly care for care recipients. Yet, they are at heightened health and financial risks. They often receive low wages, limited benefits, and have few financial resources to fall back on when they get sick themselves and can no longer work. Furthermore, most direct care staff are parents with children in the house and almost one-fourth are single parents. If they fall ill, both they and their families are put into physical and financial risk.