Risk factors for digital stress in German public administrations

Wrede, Sammy J.S.; Anjos, Dominique Rodil dos; Kettschau, Jan P.; Broding, Horst Christoph; Claassen, Kevin

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-12247-w

Cited by 8 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…The fact that the proportion of the risk cluster with regard to digital stress in 2020 is slightly lower than in Wrede et al (2021), is probably due, in addition to the below mentioned reasons, to the fact that here we ltered for employees who were already at least occasionally in the home o ce in 2020. In addition, the values of those employees who were in a department with fewer than ve respondents were dropped.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The longitudinal study design and multivariate analysis enable reliable results, e.g., in terms of causation. In contrast to the previously published cross-sectional study based on the rst survey in the project "Health and Digital Transformation" (Wrede et al, 2021), the repeat survey avoided the risk of a transmitted variable bias. However, no evidence has been found for the impact of digital stress on emotions and disease within the study period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

Wrede¹,

Claassen²,

Anjos³

et al. 2022

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Background Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many employees perform under increasingly digital conditions. Enabling home office became mandatory for companies wherever possible in consideration of the ongoing pandemic. Simultaneously, studies report on digital stress. The current literature lacks investigations of digital stress on psychosomatic outcomes, emotions and disease. Objectives This study aims to answer the research question 'How has digital stress developed over the course of the pandemic? Does digital stress predict longitudinal differences in negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office setting?' Methods An online survey was conducted among 441 employees in 2020 and 398 employees in 2022 from three municipal administrations in Germany, who were working from home at least occasionally. In a first step, a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis is used to detect the cluster of digitally stressed employees. In addition, multivariate first-difference OLS regressions were performed on digital stress, negative emotions, and physical complaints. Results The analysis revealed an increase from 8.5 to 20.2 percent in digital stress, while negative emotions and physical complaints did not show significant differences. In the multivariate model the change in the proportion of digitally stressed is between 3.8 and 16.8 percent, while the control variables explain around 9 percent. Digital stress might be slightly predictive for negative emotions, but not for physical complaints. Conclusions The study emphasizes rising digital stress, which contradicts an adaption to the digital working conditions within the observed period. Nevertheless, the psychosomatic relations are low or lagged. Further research investigating on digital stress and countermeasures especially for working from home to prevent harmful long-term effects resulting from distress is needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

Wrede¹,

Claassen²,

Anjos³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast to the previously published cross-sectional studies based on the rst survey in the project "Health and Digital Transformation" [30,40,51,52], the repeat survey avoided the risk of a omitted variable bias. However, it still remains open to what extent the temporal development can actually be interpreted as a pandemic effect and whether, in concrete terms, it is a matter of personal-emotional or operational changes such as working from home, working more hours et cetera.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The organization of the departments and the work processes are a major cause of stress, while the interventions mostly address individual behavior rather than performance and organizational aspects. Wrede et al [40] found that within the setting having relatives to care for is a signi cant risk factor for digital stress.…”

Section: Hypothesis; Socio-demographic and Psychosomatic Correlates O...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress of mental strain in German public administrations in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic

Claassen

Wrede

Kettschau

et al. 2022

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Purpose Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an acceleration in the usage of digital working methods occurred in the setting of German public administrations. Besides the ostensible risk of infection due to the virus, compound mental stress arose for the employees. A subsequent progression of mental strain is to be examined. The aim is to estimate a residual pandemic effect approximated by controlling common influencing factors. Methods An online survey was conducted in 2020 and repeated 2022 among > 500 employees from three public administrations in Germany. Mental strain was measured using the Wuppertal Screening Instrument for Psychological Strain. The temporal variation was operationalized by the 1st and 2nd survey as an independent variable. For hypothesis testing, a t-test was calculated. A pooled OLS regression of the time-dependent differences was performed as a pre/post evaluation, supplemented by Breusch-Pagan and Durbin-Watson tests as well as calculation of variance inflation factors. Results More than 70% of the public administration’s employees experienced non-optimal mental strain. The multiple regression model showed a significant increase in mental strain as well when the influence of socio-demographic changes on the department level was controlled for (β = -0.095, t = -2.275, df = 30, p < 0.05). Children, age and university degree were significant predictors of mental strain. The R-square revealed that about 40% of the variance in the temporal variation of mental strain could be explained by the temporal variation of the independent variables. Conclusion The observed influential factors explain a significant proportion of the increased mental strain in German public administration workers. Still, more than half of the increase remains unexplained. Environmental influences within the observed period were largely determined by the pandemic conditions. The results place emphasis on the health-related challenges as consequences even beyond the pandemic.

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“…Determinants of digital stress Wrede et al (2021) show that within the German public administration setting (among others) older age, feeling overwhelmed as well as resignation are signi cant risk factors for digital stress. When Gimpel et al (2018) examined "digital stress in Germany", they concluded that digital stress is more pronounced among younger workers.…”

Section: Digital Stress and Mental Strainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

Wrede¹,

Claassen²,

Anjos³

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many employees perform under increasingly digital conditions. Enabling home office became mandatory for companies wherever possible in consideration of the ongoing pandemic. Simultaneously, studies report on digital stress. The current literature lacks investigations of digital stress on psychosomatic outcomes, emotions and disease. How has digital stress developed over the course of the pandemic? Does digital stress predict differences in negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office setting? To answer the research question we conducted an online survey among 441 employees in 2020 and 398 employees in 2022 from three municipal administrations in Germany, who were working from home at least occasionally. We used a cluster analysis to detect the cluster of digitally stressed employees. Regressions were performed on digital stress, negative emotions, and physical complaints. The analysis revealed an increase from 9 to 20 percent in digital stress, while negative emotions and physical complaints did not show evident differences. In the multivariate model we observe a change in the proportion of digitally stressed between 4 and 17 percent, while the control variables explain around 9 percent. Digital stress might be slightly predictive for negative emotions, but not for physical complaints. The study emphasizes rising digital stress, which contradicts an adaption to the digital working conditions within the observed period. The psychosomatic relations are low or lagged. Further research investigating on digital stress and countermeasures especially for working from home to prevent harmful long-term effects resulting from distress is needed.

show abstract

Risk factors for digital stress in German public administrations

Cited by 8 publications

References 35 publications

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

Progress of mental strain in German public administrations in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic

Impact of digital stress on negative emotions and physical complaints in the home office

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