Background The COVID-19 crisis has radically changed the way people live and work. While most studies have focused on prevailing negative consequences, potential positive shifts in everyday life have received less attention. Thus, we examined the actual and perceived overall impact of the COVID-19 crisis on work and private life, and the consequences for mental well-being (MWB), and self-rated health (SRH) in German and Swiss employees. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected via an online questionnaire from 2118 German and Swiss employees recruited through an online panel service (18–65 years, working at least 20 h/week, various occupations). The sample provides a good representation of the working population in both countries. Using logistic regression, we analyzed how sociodemographic factors and self-reported changes in work and private life routines were associated with participants’ perceived overall impact of the COVID-19 crisis on work and private life. Moreover, we explored how the perceived impact and self-reported changes were associated with MWB and SRH. Results About 30% of employees reported that their work and private life had worsened, whereas about 10% reported improvements in work and 13% in private life. Mandatory short-time work was strongly associated with perceived negative impact on work life, while work from home, particularly if experienced for the first time, was strongly associated with a perceived positive impact on work life. Concerning private life, younger age, living alone, reduction in leisure time, and changes in quantity of caring duties were strongly associated with perceived negative impact. In contrast, living with a partner or family, short-time work, and increases in leisure time and caring duties were associated with perceived positive impact on private life. Perceived negative impact of the crisis on work and private life and mandatory short-time work were associated with lower MWB and SRH. Moreover, perceived positive impact on private life and an increase in leisure time were associated with higher MWB. Conclusion The results of this study show the differential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on people’s work and private life as well as the consequences for MWB and SRH. This may inform target groups and situation-specific interventions to ameliorate the crisis.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the universal chaos created by it, this study explores the role of sense of coherence (Soc, Antonovsky, 1979) and how it enables coping with a stressful situation and staying well. SOC is a generalized orientation which allows one to perceive the world as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful. In an attempt to understand ‘how does the SOC work’ we employed the salutogenic assumption that a strong SOC allows one to reach out in any given situation and find those resources appropriate to the specific stressor. Thus, we hypothesized that the positive impact of SOC on mental health outcomes would be mediated through coping resources that are particularly salient in times of crisis. One resource is related to the micro level (perceived family support) and the other concerns the macro level (trust in leaders and social-political institutions). Data collection was conducted in different countries during May–June 2020 via online platforms. The data included 7 samples of adult participants (age 18–90) from Israel (n ​= ​669), Italy (n ​= ​899), Spain (n ​= ​476), Germany (n ​= ​708), Austria (n ​= ​1026), Switzerland (n ​= ​147), and the U.S. (n ​= ​506). The questionnaires included standard tools (MHC-SF, SOC-13) as well as questionnaires of perceived family support and trust that were adapted to the pandemic context. As expected, SOC was associated with mental health in all the samples. Perceived family support and trust in leaders and social-political institutions mediated the relationships between SOC and mental health, controlling for age, gender, and level of financial risk. It appears that SOC has a universal meaning, not limited by cultural and situational characteristics. The discussion focuses on the theoretical, social, and political applications of the salutogenic model – and its core concept of SOC – in the context of coping with a global pandemic across different cultural contexts and countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic and remote working challenge employees’ possibilities to recover from work during their off-job time. We examined the relationship between off-job crafting and burnout across the COVID-19 crisis. We used a longitudinal research design, comprising one wave collected before the onset of the pandemic, in March 2019 (T1), and one wave collected during the first lockdown of the crisis in April 2020 (T2). We measured the six off-job crafting dimensions (Crafting for Detachment, Relaxation, Autonomy, Mastery, Meaning, and Affiliation) and burnout (fatigue/exhaustion) via a questionnaire among German and Swiss employees (N = 658; Age M = 47; 55% male). We found that both burnout levels and crafting for affiliation significantly decreased at T2 compared to T1. All off-job crafting dimensions and burnout correlated negatively cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Regression analyses showed that employees who crafted in their off-job time before and during the crisis experienced fewer burnout complaints during the crisis. Looking more closely at the subdimensions of off-job crafting, employees who crafted for detachment before and during, and for affiliation before the crisis, reported less burnout during the crisis. We conclude that off-job crafting may act as a buffer mechanism against burnout during the COVID-19 crisis.

Czech society has been increasingly more liberal toward LGBTI individuals and their parenting rights, although the Czech legislative system still does not treat same-sex couples equally to heterosexual couples. Attitudes of professionals who work with children and families are particularly important, as prejudice might be harmful in these circumstances. The present study aimed to evaluate the attitudes of future psychologists, participants were 164 psychology students from a university in Prague, the Czech Republic. They were presented with a vignette depicting a situation of a couple in a restaurant with their 4-year-old son who gets upset during the meal. The vignette was followed by a set of Likert scale items evaluating the parents' and the child's behaviour. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight versions of the vignette varying by the way how the couple solved the situation, the sexual orientation of the parents, and the gender of the acting parent. Overall, the couples were rated more favourably in the positive parenting situation than in the negative, and participants evaluated gay and lesbian parents more favourably than heterosexual parents. Results are discussed taking into account specific sample characteristics and the social climate regarding LGBTI rights in the Czech society.

Helicopter shipboard landing is a cognitively complex task that is challenging both for pilots and their crew. Effective communication, accurate reading of the flight instruments, as well as monitoring of the external environment are crucial for a successful landing. In particular, the final phases of landing are critical as they imply high workload situations in an unstable environment with restricted space. In the present qualitative study, we interviewed ten helicopter pilots from the Italian Navy using an applied cognitive task analysis approach. We aimed to obtain a detailed description of the landing procedure, and to identify relevant factors that affect pilots’ workload, performance, and safety. Based on the content analysis of the interviews, we have identified six distinct phases of approaching and landing on a ship deck and four categories of factors that may significantly affect pilots’ performance and safety of the landing procedure. Consistent with previous studies, our findings suggest that external visual cueing is vital for a successful landing, in particular during the last phases of landing. Therefore, based on the pilots’ statements, we provide suggestions for possible improvements of external visual cues that have the potential to reduce pilots’ workload and improve the overall safety of landing operations.