What about the Effect of Work-Team Identification on Mental Health One Year after the Onset of the COVID-19 Health Crisis?

Abstract

The COVID-19 health crisis and its generalized lockdown have not spared the professional world. In this health crisis context characterized by uncertainty and threats, stress and burnout are consequences widely studied. Work-team identification has often been associated with reduced stress and burnout in a non-crisis context. However, to the best of our knowledge, only one study has addressed this issue shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis (i.e., six months). To expand our understanding of these relationships, the present study aims to investigate the effect of work-team identification on mental health (i.e., stress and burnout) one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We performed hierarchical regressions on a sample of 110 Belgian employees. Data were collected from the end of January to the end of April 2021. We found that only disengagement was negatively predicted by work-team identification. No significant effect was found for stress and exhaustion. The research implications are discussed in relation with proximity managers, who have a specific role to play in the work-team identification, and more generally in the well-being of their employees.