Remote Working and Home Learning: How the Italian Academic Population Dealt with Changes Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Alessandra Macciotta, Domenica Farinella, Giuseppina Dell’Aversana, Marco Fornili, Davide Petri, Laura Baglietto, Michela Baccini, Carmen Berrocal Montiel, Giuseppe Fiorentino, Gianluca Severi, Fulvio Ricceri, Maria Gabriella Campolo and Andreina Bruno
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Alessandra Macciotta: Centre for Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health (C-BEPH), Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, 10043 Orbassano, TO, Italy
Domenica Farinella: Department of Political Science and Law, University of Messina, 90122 Messina, ME, Italy
Giuseppina Dell’Aversana: Department of Psychology, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milano, MI, Italy
Marco Fornili: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy
Davide Petri: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy
Laura Baglietto: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy
Michela Baccini: Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications “Giuseppe Parenti”, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, FI, Italy
Carmen Berrocal Montiel: Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, PI, Italy
Giuseppe Fiorentino: Italian Naval Academy, 57127 Livornom, LI, Italy
Gianluca Severi: Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications “Giuseppe Parenti”, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, FI, Italy
Fulvio Ricceri: Centre for Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health (C-BEPH), Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, 10043 Orbassano, TO, Italy
Maria Gabriella Campolo: Department of Economics, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, ME, Italy
Andreina Bruno: Department of Education Science, University of Genoa, 16121 Genova, GE, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic introduced changes in people’s lives that affected their mental health. Our study aimed to explore the level of psychological distress in the academic population during the lockdown period and investigate its association with the new working or studying conditions. The study sample included 9364 students and 2159 employees from five Italian universities from the study IO CONTO 2020. We applied linear regression models to investigate the association between home learning or remote working conditions and psychological distress, separately for students and employees. Psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In both students and employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with study/work–family conflicts, concerns about their future careers, and inadequacy of equipment; in employees, higher levels of distress were significantly associated with a lack of clarity on work objectives. Our results are in line with previous research on the impact of spaces and equipment in remote working/studying from home. Moreover, the study contributes to deepening the association between well-being and telework–family conflict, which in the literature is still equivocal. Practical implications require academic governance to promote sustainable environments both in remote and hybrid work conditions, by referring to a specific management by objectives approach.

Keywords: COVID-19; psychological distress; HADS; students; academic workers; teleworking; homeworking; e-learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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