Association between mental health, fear of COVID-19, and job insecurity among bus service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine the association between mental health, fear of COVID-19, and job insecurity among bus service workers during the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan. METHODS: In September 2020, 1,889 employees of three private railway bus companies in the Tokai region were administered an anonymous self-questionnaire to be filled out at their workplace. The survey items were depression, anxiety, fear of COVID-19, job insecurity, demographics, and work characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: Overall, 1,316 valid responses, excluding those from workers with a history of mental illness and others, were included in the analysis (valid response rate: 69.7%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the prevalence of depression and anxiety were significantly higher in groups with medium and high levels of fear of COVID-19 or job insecurity than in the group with a low level of fear of COVID-19 or job insecurity. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Fear of COVID-19 and job insecurity were found to be risk factors for depression and anxiety among bus service workers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the latter being the stronger risk factor. Hence, comprehensive COVID-19 prevention measures as well as mental health-related measures to reduce job insecurity should be implemented in the bus service industry.