Post-COVID mental health of librarians in Vietnam

Abstract

This study aims to measure the mental well-being levels of librarians in Vietnam in the new normal context after the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are expected to advocate for future policy interventions regarding mental health care for staff in Vietnam’s libraries and information centers since the pandemic has made coping with crises recognised globally as an integral part of life. On this ground, a survey was designed and administered online for librarians across Vietnam to self-rate their 5 dimensions of psychological general well-being using the WHO-5 [1] together with the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) [2], and Strahan-Gerbasi’s 1972 short version of the Marlow‐Crowne Social Desirability Scale [3]. The survey shows despite the low mid-COVID mental health, there was a statistically significant increase in mental health scores in the new normal. There are about two-thirds of the surveyed librarians are infected with COVID-19. For either the mid- or post-COVID mental health, there was a statistically significant difference in scores between the infected and uninfected ones. Three independent-sample t-tests on genders, marital and parenthood statuses only found statistically significant differences in mid- and post-COVID mental health scores between different marital and parenthood statuses, with the unmarried and the ones with no children scoring higher on both mid- and post-COVID mental health over their counterparts. Eight one-way between-groups ANOVA tests conducted on a wide range of demographics (geographical area, library type, library size, age, seniority, position, specialization, and qualification) only showed statistically significant differences in mid- and post-COVID mental health scores between different age groups, seniority levels, and types of position.