Mental stress and sleeplessness during the COVID-19 pandemic associated with socioeconomic status, preventive behaviors, and indoor environments

Abstract

The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus forced people to work from home. This study aimed to examine the relationship between residents' mental stress, indoor environment quality (IEQ), preventive behaviors, and socioeconomic status (SES) in Indonesia by using a cross-sectional study with a questionnaire survey in Indonesia. A total of 1004 valid responses were obtained during the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic period (November-December 2021). Logistic regression and odds ratio (OR) was used to evaluate the association between the possibility of mental stress and sleeplessness relying on the classified group of income, education, and age. In addition, a structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the inter-relationship between these characteristics and their effects on mental stress and sleeplessness as a crisis variable. The results indicate that mental stress was more inclined among low-income households during the COVID-19 pandemic than middle-up and high-income groups, with OR = 0.48 and 0.50, respectively. Moreover, the SEM suggested that SES also had significant direct effects (p-value < 0.05) on preventive behaviors (ω = 0.105), IEQ (ω =0.102), and crisis (ω = −0.237). It evidenced that the higher socioeconomic levels could have less possibility of experiencing a crisis. The findings of this study could add to practical implications that support the researchers and public policy stakeholders in mitigating the long-term effect of COVID-19 in Indonesia related to mental health and indoor environments.

Keywords

• mental stress
• sleeplessness
• ses
• covid-19 preventive behaviors
• indoor environment quality