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Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: A focus on the self-employed

Ilias Gerogiannis et al.

Business Research Quarterly2025https://doi.org/10.1177/23409444251315477article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.46

Abstract

Self-employed workers worldwide encountered significant mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the pandemic has affected the mental health of the self-employed more significantly than employees. To address this question, we analyzed data from more than 4,000 self-employed individuals across the 27 European Union (EU) member states. We found that the pandemic had a more significant impact on the mental health of the self-employed in the EU, especially those working in the health and education sectors and countries with the highest stringency measures. Our findings also reveal that the pandemic has prompted self-employed individuals, particularly self-employed women, to be more open to talking about their mental health challenges at work, suggesting a shift in their perception of mental health stigma. This study highlights an opportunity and a need for EU policymakers to introduce targeted measures to support the self-employed in building back better in the post-COVID-19 world. JEL CLASSIFICATIONS: I31, L26

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/23409444251315477

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@article{ilias2025,
  title        = {{Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: A focus on the self-employed}},
  author       = {Ilias Gerogiannis et al.},
  journal      = {Business Research Quarterly},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/23409444251315477},
}

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Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: A focus on the self-employed

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Evidence weight

0.46

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.37 × 0.4 = 0.15
M · momentum0.60 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.