Fear and poor mental health among workers during the global cruise tourism crisis: Impact of low employability and family support

ABSTRACT

This research examines how fear of the crisis affects the mental health of hospitality workers in the cruise industry by performing a cross-sectional survey and using partial least squares model. Results confirm that fear of pandemic-induced shutdown negatively affects the mental health of cruise ship employees. The moderating effect of perceived employability outside the cruise ship industry and family emotional support are also uncovered. This study successfully consolidates the literature on job demand, job resources, work engagement, and well-being to determine the complex essence of cruise ship employees’ work engagement and well-being. Theoretically, this study expands the scarce literature that links the fear of the crisis with employees’ poor mental health. Some previous studies have examined this relationship in other contexts of economic crisis throughout history, but, for obvious reasons, none of these studies have had the opportunity to investigate a global economic crisis associated with a health crisis.