University of Arizona
Brian Mayer is the lead author of a University of Arizona report that found high levels of anxiety, depression and stress among grocery store workers.
Arizona grocery store workers are struggling with their mental health during the pandemic.
A new survey found a fifth of the roughly 4,000 grocery workers surveyed were exhibiting severe signs of anxiety and depression; by contrast, Brian Mayer says before the pandemic, most national surveys found less than half that number of people showing severe signs.
Mayer is a professor in the School of Sociology at University of Arizona and the lead author on this study. He and his team partnered with the union representing grocery workers in Arizona over the summer.
Mayer said at the start of the pandemic, he kept seeing reports of contentious encounters between store employees and angry customers, and was curious if that was pervasive. He calls the percentage of grocery workers showing signs of anxiety and depression notable and worrisome.
The Show spoke with him for more about his findings.