The link between fear about COVID-19 and insomnia: mediated by economic concerns and psychological distress, moderated by mindfulness

Abstract

This paper adds to extant research by examining the relationship between employees’ fear of coronavirus disease 2019 and their suffering from insomnia. It specifically proposes mediating roles of employees' economic concerns and psychological distress and a moderating role of mindfulness in this process. The research hypotheses are tested with survey data collected through two studies among Pakistani-based professionals: 316 in study 1 and 421 in study 2. The results pinpoint a salient risk for employees who experience fear during a pandemic crisis, in that the associated economic and psychological hardships make the situation worse by undermining their sleep quality, which eventually could diminish the quality of their lives even further. It also reveals how organizations can mitigate this risk if employees can leverage pertinent personal resources, such as mindfulness.

Does Servant Leadership Control Psychological Distress in Crisis? Moderation and Mediation Mechanism

“… 30 The conceptualization in light of the argument that the attention and awareness component of mindfulness, which we tag as mindfulness herein, for parsimony offers valuable and significant protection against difficult situations. 31 , 32 Our argument for the buffering role of mindfulness also is consistent with conservation of resources theory (COR), which predicts that the extent to which employees suffer from resource-draining situations is contingent on their access to this specific personal resource. 27 , 33 …”

Examining the relationship between fear of COVID-19, intolerance for uncertainty, and cyberloafing: A mediational model

“…Specifically, the COVID-19 crisis can be considered an external traumatic event that dramatically changes both the ecological and organizational environments and depletes employees’ resources ( Chong et al, 2020 , Yang et al, 2021 , Behl et al, 2021 ). Building upon the COR perspective, researchers have uncovered that fear of COVID-19 can create sleep disturbances among employees because of the depletion of resources while facing pandemic threats ( De Clercq et al, 2021 ).…”

Is fear of COVID-19 higher in individuals residing in more deprived areas? A nationwide study

“… 2 Constant worry and psychological distress can also negatively affect the general health of individuals, such as by resulting in insomnia. 20 Increased levels of fear caused by COVID-19 have been identified in previous studies, in which many individuals report experiencing deterioration in mental health due to the unexpected outbreak. 21 Specifically, fear has been found to arise due to the rapid spread and death rate of the disease, social isolation caused by the implementation of quarantine and distancing policies, economic difficulties and difficulties in accessing medical services.…”