Canadian Workers’ Well-Being During the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

To explore workers’ well-being during COVID-19, researchers have primarily utilized variable-centered approaches (e.g., regression) focusing on describing workers’ general level of well-being. Given the diversity of factors that may have impacted workers’ well-being during the pandemic, focusing on such well-being trends do not provide sufficient insight into the different lived well-being experiences during the pandemic. Moreover, positive well-being in workers’ general lives and work has been understudied in such complex public health crises. To address these issues, we use latent profile analysis, a person-centered analysis, to explore the diverse well-being realities Canadian workers (employed before COVID-19 or working at the time of the survey) experienced at the beginning of COVID-19. Canadian workers (N = 510) were surveyed between May 20-27th, 2020, on positive (meaning in life, flourishing, thriving at work) and negative (distress, stress, impaired productivity, troublesome symptoms at work) well-being indicators, as well as on factors that may be associated with experiencing different well-being profiles. Five well-being profiles emerged: moderately prospering, prospering, moderately suffering, suffering, and mixed. Factors at the self- (gender, age, disability status, trait resilience), social- (marital status, family functioning, having children at home), workplace- (some employment statuses and work industries, financial strain, job security), and pandemic-related (perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, social distancing) ecological levels predicted profile membership. Recommendations for employers, policymakers, and mental health organizations are discussed.