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. 2023 Dec 15:4:100248.
doi: 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100248. Epub 2023 Jul 22.

Dual pandemics? Assessing associations between area racism, COVID-19 case rates, and mental health among U.S. adults

Rachel Donnelly  1 , Brazil Remani  1 , Christy L Erving  2
Affiliations

Dual pandemics? Assessing associations between area racism, COVID-19 case rates, and mental health among U.S. adults

Rachel Donnelly et al. SSM Ment Health. .

Abstract

Mental health worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among racially minoritized adults. Population-level racial attitudes, or area racism, may be associated with mental health, particularly during this historical moment, but this possibility has not been tested in prior research. In the present study, we use nationally representative data from the Household Pulse Survey (April-October 2020) to document associations between area racism and depression/anxiety in the United States among non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and other racial/ethnic minority adults. We further consider the national COVID-19 case rate to examine an additional macro-level stressor. Findings indicate that area racism was positively associated with depression and/or anxiety for Black, Hispanic, White, and other racial/ethnic minority adults. Moreover, COVID-19 cases posed an additional, independent mental health threat for most groups. This study points to area racism as a macro-level stressor and an antecedent of mental health for racially diverse groups of Americans.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental health; Racism; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Percentage of respondents with symptoms of depression (Panel A) and anxiety (Panel B) by survey week and race/ethnicity (Household Pulse Survey; April-October 2020).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Area racism and COVID-19 case rate by survey week (Household Pulse Survey; April-October 2020).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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