Job insecurity, financial threat and mental health in the COVID-19 context: The buffer role of perceived social support (Submitted)

The social distancing, confinement and quarantine adopted since March 2020 to confront the COVID-19 pandemic have affected multiple vital areas, and specially work, business and productive activities. Prior research has highlighted the relation between perceptions of risk in employment and its concomitant financial risk with a myriad of consequences for people's well-being and health. In order to analyze the potential negative consequences of temporary layoffs, downsizing or closure of companies and businesses, and the consequent insecurity about the continuity of employment, the aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, to analyze the relations between the perceptions of job insecurity and financial threat and overall mental health during the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of the Chilean adult population. And secondly, to identify the potential buffer effect of perceived social support on this relation. To analyze this, we carried out a cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample aimed at a general Chilean adult population. The results show that both perceptions of job insecurity and financial threat are associated with a decline in perceived mental health. Additionally, results indicate a moderate buffer effect of perceived social support relative to the size of the social network. Thus, in relation to job insecurity and financial threat, the network size mitigates the association of both with the decline in perceived mental health. The theoretical and applied scope of these findings are analyzed, and their challenges and limitations are discussed.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.Funding StatementThis research has been supported by project CONICYT MEC CON80190085 (Chile), and by Research Directorate (DIUFRO) of the Universidad de La Frontera (Chile).Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.YesThe details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:The project underwent assessment by the Ethics and Bioethics Committee of the Universidad de Concepcion (CEBB 650-2020, March 2020), and all the participants were asked to sign an informed consent.All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.YesI understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.YesThe data corresponding to this study is available on Open Science Framework (OSF) websitehttps://osf.io/p7xdf/