Since the end of 2019, COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly worldwide (1). The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee declared a global public health emergency on January 30, 2020 (2). Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic and measures implemented to protect and prevent its spread have exerted adverse effects on the mental health of various populations, including the general population as well as specific subgroups, such as students, pregnant women, and healthcare workers (3). In China, the government instituted numerous efficacious management strategies to mitigate this public health crisis. Considering the challenges associated with prison environments, including overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, and numerous prisoners with underlying health problems, the prison system instituted a prolonged closed-loop management approach referred to as the “lockdown shifts” strategy. Nearly three years have elapsed since the implementation of the “lockdown shifts” strategy in response to the COVID-19 outbreak at the end of 2019. This strategy requires prison officers to be divided into three groups for shifts. Each group undergoes three stages in a cycle—specifically, isolation at the designated place, lockdown shifts in the prison, and a rest period at home. Each stage lasts a minimum of 7 days, with specific requirements adjusted according to the local COVID-19 situation (4).

Compared to prisons in other nations severely influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic (5–8), China’s preventative measures have proven capable of curbing the virus’ proliferation within the jail system. Nevertheless, COVID-19’s prolonged prevalence has substantially burdened prison officers, thereby disrupting their work-life balance (4). Prior research has indicated that doctors, civil servants, and police officers—working on the front lines of combating the COVID-19 pandemic—all experience mental health problems, predominantly anxiety and depressive symptoms (9–11). Therefore, assuming that prison officers in China face similar mental health challenges is reasonable. First, to avoid COVID-19’s spread in prisons, prison officers must experience a long period of isolation before entering the workspace. Previous studies have demonstrated that isolation measures increase prevalence rates of anxiety and depression directly (12, 13), and data from a survey of the prison staff in Turkey support this finding (14). Additionally, prison officers’ prolonged separation from their families during this period may contribute to loneliness, work fatigue, and work–family conflict, which have been linked with high levels of anxiety and depression (15–17). Furthermore, COVID-19 prevention and control measures have intensified prison officers’ workload, with the “lockdown shifts” strategy reducing the available workforce, thereby increasing job demands and exacerbating occupational stress. Ample research has indicated that occupational stress causes various mental health problems (18). Finally, isolation often results in the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, such as irregular diet and lack of physical exercise (19, 20), which also pose threats to individuals’ mental health status. Generally, anxiety and depression are the two most common symptoms among prison officers that not only cause serious damage to their work efficacy (21), but are also associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation and behavior (22, 23). Thus, an investigation focusing on prison officers’ anxiety and depression status after the “lockdown shifts” strategy’s implementation is urgently needed. Such a study could provide a reference to develop more precise and effective mental health intervention measures for prison officers.

During the COVID-19 outbreak’s initial stages, several studies investigated prison officers’ mental health status. Li et al. employed the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to survey Western Chinese frontline prison officers, finding that mental health issues’ prevalence was 33.43% (24). According to data from US correctional facilities, approximately 32% of correctional officers reported mild-to-severe depression symptoms, while 38% expressed mild-to-severe anxiety symptoms (25). The anxiety and depression rates among Turkish jail officers working under compulsory COVID-19 isolation measures were even more severe, with 48.9% exhibiting anxiety symptoms and 92.9% presenting depressive symptoms (14). However, these studies focused on psychopathological symptoms’ prevalence in prison officers at the pandemic’s commencement. With the virus continued spread, prison officers have experienced prolonged exposure to a stressful occupational situation. To date, few studies have explored the mental health status of prison officers during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the context of the long-term implementation of the “lockdown shifts” strategy, which is the primary focus of this study. Previous studies discovered that long-term exposure to a stressful occupational environment could have a greater detrimental effect on mental health (26, 27); further, reportedly, unresolved chronic stressors decrease positive emotions and increase negative sentiment, which are vulnerability factors for severe anxiety and depression symptoms (28). Moreover, neurobiological evidence has indicated that persistent stress from COVID-19 may chronically expose individuals to high cortisol levels, which stimulate the mesolimbic reward pathway in the brain, precipitating numerous health problems (29). However, prior studies have presented inconsistent results, with some indicating that upon experiencing prolonged stress, individuals can adapt to stressors and restore their mental health with the assistance of psychological resilience (30, 31). According to a survey administered in the United Kingdom, during the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals’ mental health initially deteriorated, followed by stabilization as the pandemic persisted (32). Thus, prison officers’ mental health status with the COVID-19 pandemic’s prolongation—compared to that at the outbreak’s beginning—remains uncertain and must be further investigated.

This study is the first to investigate anxiety and depression among prison officers during the extended COVID-19 pandemic. Per the stress and coping transactional model, an individual’s psychological responses to stressors depend on their cognitive appraisal, coping resources, and personal characteristics (33). The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a sustained negative impact on prison officers’ lives, thus acting as a chronic stressor (34). Their perception of COVID-19—as a cognitive appraisal—can influence their selection of coping strategies, potentially exacerbating mental health issues. Sociodemographic factors, including age, gender, and educational level, shape individuals’ cognitive appraisal and coping resources when facing stress (35). Moreover, personal habits, including healthy eating and exercise, are linked to adaptability and coping strategies (36). Furthermore, family support, coworker relationships, and job-related stress in the work environment affect the availability of coping resources and choices (37). Based on this model, and considering prison officers’ unique living and working situations during the COVID-19 pandemic, we propose a research framework that includes five factors—namely, sociodemographic characteristics, healthy lifestyle, family environment, workplace conditions, and COVID-19 perceptions (Figure 1). This study examined the prevalence of anxiety and depression—along with the potential risk and protective factors involved—among prison officers over a prolonged period. As of January 8, 2023, China managed COVID-19 as a “Category B” infectious disease, thus marking the termination of the prison “lockdown shifts” strategy; nevertheless, the global pandemic and evolving virus strains persist. Our findings can aid prison systems in protecting officers’ mental health during future emergencies that necessitate closed-loop management’s adoption.

The COVID-19 virus’ worldwide spread has negatively impacted the mental health of various social communities—including frontline healthcare professionals, students, and civil servants (11, 50, 51). The Chinese prison system implemented a “lockdown shifts” strategy for nearly three years; this study was conducted before the prison system lifted this policy. We investigated the prevalence and factors associated with anxiety and depression in prison officers during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Our study showed a prevalence of 69.8% and 72.6% of anxiety and depression, respectively, among Chinese prison officers.

For a long time, owing to prisons’ confined and tedious working environment, prison officers’ mental health challenges have received significant attention. A systematic review published in 2019—focusing on correctional officers—analyzed surveys from six countries, including China; the review found that the prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders in this group ranged from 12.2%–37.9% and 24%–59.7%, respectively (52). This systematic review included a study conducted by Carleton et al. (53) from 2016 to 2017, which used the same assessment tools as our study, and revealed that the mean scores of anxiety and depression among Canadian correctional officers were 6.08 and 7.33, respectively. Evidently, these scores were lower than the results obtained in our study (anxiety: 7.85, depression: 8.96). Thus, compared to the pre-COVID-19 stage, our findings might indicate a higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among prison officers than previous studies. Meanwhile, compared to the research conducted at the COVID-19 outbreak’s onset, our study’s results are also significantly higher than those of prison officers in China (33.43%) and in the United States (38, 32%), as mentioned above (24, 25). Moreover, the mental health status of prison officers in this study was worse than that of other groups in China—including older adults, perinatal women, and medical residents (40, 41, 54)—who were also evaluated during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Notably, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, China’s epidemic has proceeded from an initial severe outbreak to being effectively controlled at the time of the investigation. However, we observed an increasing prevalence of mental health issues among prison officers. This trend contrasts with those of studies conducted in medical staff, such as healthcare workers and nurses (55, 56), which have found that mental health problems were highly prevalent during the epidemic’s peak, but decreased as the outbreak subsided (57, 58). Potential reasons for this result may involve the comprehensive influence of various factors, including Chinese prison officers’ social background, culture, and occupational characteristics. On the one hand, China’s prison system follows a responsibility subcontracting system, whereby each prison officer is assigned specific tasks related to pandemic prevention and control, as well as security maintenance duties (4). These tasks are critical for evaluating their job performance. This increases work pressure for Chinese prison officers compared to other groups and prison officers in other countries. On the other hand, owing to prison officers’ unique occupational characteristics, their lives cannot improve and stabilize even after the pandemic is controlled. They are subject to closed-loop management measures for an extended period, including isolation and behavioral control. Consequently, they experience increased feelings of loneliness and worsening mental health (12, 59). Additionally, in Chinese culture, the concept of “face” holds great importance. Prison officers may be concerned regarding their occupational image and consider it shameful to ask for help, which makes them more likely to endure psychological problems rather than seek help (60). This cultural factor—compared to other countries—may make Chinese prison officers more vulnerable to mental health problems. Consequently, identifying the risk and protective factors affecting prison officers’ mental health, which can provide a reference for interventions for their mental health challenges, is imperative.

To this end, a binary logistic regression model was utilized. The results revealed that prison officers who were over the age of 30, were unmarried, experienced significant work–family conflicts, faced high job demands, and suffered from COVID-19 burnout exhibited higher levels of anxiety. By contrast, those who exercised more, maintained desirable family relationships, and perceived strong group cohesion exhibited a lower risk of anxiety. The prevalence of depression was greater in prison officers who were over the age of 30, experienced significant work–family conflicts, faced high job demands, exhibited COVID-19 burnout, and could not tolerate uncertainty regarding COVID-19. Meanwhile, prison officers were less likely to experience depressive symptoms if they earned an annual income of greater than 150,000 RMB, exercised more, maintained desirable family relationships, had a strong sense of job autonomy, and demonstrated effective group cohesion.

This study suggests that a correlation exists between demographic characteristics and the incidence of anxiety and depression among prison officers. Older prison officers report greater anxiety and depression than younger officers. This finding contrasts with previous studies conducted among prison officers, frontline civil servants, and ordinary citizens (7, 11, 61). This discrepancy may be because the prior surveys were performed during the COVID-19 outbreak’s onset, when young people often had to undertake greater emergency work than older people. As the COVID-19 pandemic persisted, older prison officers were confronted with increasing work–family conflict and physical burdens. Therefore, they were more likely to experience anxiety and depression during prolonged closed-loop periods. Moreover, we found that unmarried prison officers were more likely to experience anxiety than their married counterparts. This finding is consistent with a survey of Bangladeshi doctors administered during the COVID-19 pandemic (62). Social support, a sense of stability, and opportunities to express negative emotions afforded by marriage can mitigate the pressures faced by prison officers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the married population always exhibits better mental health than the unmarried population, and being single is an important risk factor for anxiety (63).

Our analysis revealed that a personal annual income of greater than 150,000 RMB is a protective factor against depression among prison officers. Prior research has demonstrated that mental illness is frequently associated with economic hardship (64, 65), and the risk of depression among people with stable annual income was half that among those with reduced annual income during the COVID-19 pandemic (66). The three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a significant negative economic impact. Although prison officers’ personal income has not changed, their family’s annual income may have decreased. High-income prison officers are less likely to be affected by deteriorating economic conditions. Notably, while the chi-square test revealed differences in the mental health of prison officers with different job positions, the binary regression analysis did not identify job position as a risk or protective factor. This is consistent with previous survey findings on the mental health of civil servants and medical teams (11, 67).

Regarding healthy lifestyle, exercise is associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression. Previous research has discovered that during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased exercise could alleviate anxiety and depressive symptoms in college students (68), and inactive individuals were more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders than those who frequently engage in physical exercise (69). The mastery hypothesis posits that during or after exercise, individuals would experience enhanced self-worth, a sense of control over their surroundings, which are crucial for maintaining mental health (70).

Additionally, our study found that prison officers with positive family relationships were less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, while those experiencing significant work–family conflict exhibited a higher prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Family functioning significantly impacts mental health (71). Emotional support and regular communication provided by parents or spouses positively affect mental health status (72, 73). In Chinese culture, the importance of family is emphasized, and maintaining close family ties is considered a universal moral requirement (74). Furthermore, Chinese families tend to have closer family connections and provide mutual support to cope with life’s pressures and difficulties (75). However, owing to COVID-19, prison officers were isolated for extended periods and had to live separately from their families, thereby reducing communications with family members and precipitating feelings of loneliness. Previous studies have found that social isolation due to physical restrictions adversely affect mental health (13, 76), and increasing shared feelings with family members mitigates this effect (77). Additionally, a meta-analysis on work–family conflict indicated that when individuals struggle to effectively manage the contradictions between family and work, they may provoke arguments with their family members, consequently diminishing life satisfaction and contributing to mental health problems (78). Therefore, a harmonious family environment is a protective factor that enhances well-being and reduces mental health problems.

Our findings revealed an association between workplace conditions and mental health. From one perspective, heavier workload increases the probability of prison officers experiencing anxiety and depression, which is consistent with studies examining doctors and prison officers during the COVID-19 pandemic (51, 64). The heavy workload of COVID-19 prevention and control increased pressure (79), thus causing mental health problems. By contrast, group cohesion in the work environment protects mental health. Prison officers often lack contact with the external world; thus, they may require greater support from each other than other occupational groups. A previous study found that lack of support from colleagues was related to job burnout among prison officers (80). Finally, positive job autonomy was protective against depression. A previous study revealed that lower professional autonomy and higher job strain are significantly associated with major depressive episodes among nurses (81). According to self-determination theory, low levels of job autonomy are associated with mental health issues in the workplace (82).

Moreover, varying perceptions regarding COVID-19 have contributed to differences in mental health. COVID-19 burnout is a danger sign for anxiety among prison officers; COVID-19 burnout and intolerance of uncertainty regarding COVID-19 are risk factors for depression. Interestingly, this study found no correlation between COVID-19 worry and mental health, which differs from investigations of prison officers in Turkey and the United States (14, 25). This may be because these studies were conducted when people possessed less knowledge regarding COVID-19, and the original strain had a higher fatality rate. When this study was conducted, the ongoing COVID-19 variant was Omicron, and its fatality and toxicity had greatly reduced (83). Additionally, this is attributable to the government’s extremely strict epidemic-prevention measures, which prevented the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading widely in China. Therefore, understandably, people no longer feared or worried about COVID-19. These results indicate that prison officers are not worried about COVID-19 itself but are troubled by the COVID-19 pandemic’s destructive effects on their daily life and work.

At the time of writing, China’s prison system is no longer implementing the “lockdown shifts” strategy. However, these findings not only prepare for potential future closed-loop management scenarios but also provide insights for addressing prison officers’ current mental health concerns. When closed-loop management is again required owing to major public health events in the future, greater attention should be paid to senior and unmarried prison officers. More advanced psychological evaluations can be used, and conducting online psychological counseling for high-risk groups concurrently is highly necessary. Additionally, promoting healthy lifestyles among prison officers, including regular eating habits and exercise, is essential. Designated exercise periods during working hours can be established. Moreover, once the pandemic subsides, prison authorities can permit family visits for officers following nucleic acid testing; enhancing family time can help them cope with negative emotions. Courses on family relationship management can be offered. Furthermore, implementing group counseling activities can strengthen cohesion among prison officers and cultivate a sense of honor and belongingness in their profession. Finally, aiming to alleviate pandemic burnout’s detrimental effects and intolerance of uncertainty regarding virus, it is essential to send positive signal regarding the COVID-19 epidemic to prison officers and help them build confidence to overcome it. To alleviate Chinese prison officers’ current mental health problems, we believe that as their normal life and work routines return to normalcy, their mental health status will improve. However, we still must focus on prison officers who have suffered severe economic losses, broken family relationships, and developed various bad habits under the influence of the three-year epidemic and related policies, as these tangible negative effects may not be eliminated in the short term, even with the relaxation of COVID-19 controls.

This study has four main limitations. First, as a cross-sectional study, it reveals associations but not causality among the studied variables. Additionally, the study only elucidates the prevalence of mental health problems of the prison officers in June and July 2022; however, it cannot capture dynamic changes over time. In the future, our framework can be utilized to collect data longitudinally to assess prison officers’ mental health and identify relevant influencing factors. This approach not only enables causal relationships’ clarification but also provides an understanding of the mental health changes within this group as public health events evolve. Second, this study only relied on the prison officers’ self-reported data; participants may have provided socially desirable responses that do not reflect their actual status. Future research can incorporate evaluations from both family members and colleagues to comprehensively assess prison officers’ mental health status. Third, this study found that annual income ≥150,000 RMB, job autonomy, and intolerance of uncertainty regarding COVID-19 only influenced prison officers’ depression but not anxiety. The reasons and underlying mechanisms behind this interesting result can be further explored in future studies. Fourth, our data were limited to the west and south of China. Different regions may have varying levels of control over the COVID-19 pandemic; future investigation can consider this factor for further analysis. Moreover, the lockdown shift strategy’s details in different prisons are also inconsistent, and the mental health of prison officers from other districts also merits consideration. Therefore, examining the mental health status of prison officers from various districts in China is necessary, especially if the prison system implements a closure policy again in the future.

This study is the first to examine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among prison officers after being affected by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings revealed a significantly high prevalence of depression and anxiety compared to the outbreak’s early stage; the high prevalence associated with sociodemographic characteristics, family environment, healthy lifestyles, workplace conditions, and perceptions of COVID-19. This study offers a guide for the prison system to enhance prison officers’ mental health status during future closed-loop management periods.

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the School of Sociology at the China University of Political Science and Law. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

XL, YZ, and JX conceived the idea and analyzed the data. YZ, QZ, and JX conducted the investigation and drafted the initial manuscript. JX and YZ were responsible for data curation. XL reviewed and edited the manuscript. AM and XL supervised the project and secured funding. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This study received support from the “Scientific Research Innovation Project of China University of Political Science and Law” (the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities) awarded to AM (nos. 20ZFD82002; ZFYZ88001); the “Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of the Chinese Ministry of Education” provided to AM (no. 21YJAZH058); the Beijing Social Science Fund provided to AM (no. 21JYB010); the major project of the Chinese Ministry of Education, National Education Sciences Planning Fund awarded to XL (no. DEA220353).

The authors extend their appreciation to the participants who completed the questionnaires and the prison officers who facilitated the execution of this research.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.