Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022;46(1):20-30.
doi: 10.1007/s10608-021-10243-3. Epub 2021 Jun 19.

Psychological Distress and Physical Health Symptoms in the Latinx Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Anxiety Sensitivity

Nubia A Mayorga  1 , Lorra Garey  1 , Andres Viana  1   2 , Jodi Berger Cardoso  3   4 , Norman B Schmidt  5 , Michael J Zvolensky  1   3   6   7
Affiliations

Psychological Distress and Physical Health Symptoms in the Latinx Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Anxiety Sensitivity

Nubia A Mayorga et al. Cognit Ther Res. 2022.

Abstract

Objective: The outbreak of the novel 2019 SARS2-Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to substantial physical and mental health consequences. Rates of mortality and hospitalization are highest among those of racial and ethnic minority persons, including Latinx persons. Further, Latinx persons have been experiencing elevated mental health problems in response to the pandemic compared to non-Latinx Whites. The current study examined whether individual differences in anxiety sensitivity (AS) related to more severe emotional distress associated with social distancing, financial strain, fear of COVID-19, and physical health symptoms stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic among Latinx adults.

Methods: Participants included 188 Latinx persons (31.4% female, M age = 34.1 years, SD = 8.16) recruited via an online survey panel program.

Results: Results indicated that AS significantly contributed to increased severity of the emotional stress response associated with social distancing (ΔR 2 = 0.15, p < 0.001), financial strain (ΔR 2 = 0.15, p < 0.001), physical health symptoms (ΔR 2 = 0.03, p = 0.006), and fear of COVID-19 (ΔR 2 = 0.15, p < 0.001). These effects were evident over and above the variance accounted for by gender, years living in the United States, education, and work and home life COVID-19-related stress.

Conclusions: These cross-sectional findings suggest AS may be an important individual difference factor for better understanding mental health among Latinx persons in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Anxiety; Anxiety Sensitivity; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Latinx; Pandemic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestNubia A. Mayorga, Lorra Garey, Andres Viana, Jodi Berger Cardoso, Norman B. Schmidt and Michael J. Zvolensky declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ahorsu DK, Lin C-Y, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020 doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bakhshaie J, Hanna AE, Viana AG, Garza M, Valdivieso J, Ochoa-Perez M, Lemaire C, Cardoso JB, Rogers AH, Mayorga NA. Acculturative stress and mental health among economically disadvantaged Spanish-speaking Latinos in primary care: The role of anxiety sensitivity. Psychiatry Research. 2018;261:421–427. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bakhshaie J, Rogers AH, Mayorga NA, Ditre J, Rodríguez-Cano R, Ruiz AC, Viana AG, Garza M, Lemaire C, Ochoa-Perez M. Perceived racial discrimination and pain intensity/disability among economically disadvantaged Latinos in a Federally Qualified Health Center: The role of anxiety sensitivity. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 2019;21(1):21–29. - PubMed
    1. Behar-Zusman V, Chavez JV, Gattamorta K. Developing a measure of the impact of COVID-19 social distancing on household conflict and cohesion. Family Process. 2020;59(3):1045–1059. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berk ML, Schur CL. The effect of fear on access to care among undocumented Latino immigrants. Journal of Immigrant Health. 2001;3(3):151–156. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources