The intent of this work was to examine the intersection of COVID-19 fear with social vulnerabilities and mental health consequences among adults living in the United States. Data are from a ...nationally representative sample (n = 10,368) of U.S. adults surveyed online during demographic subgroups (gender, age, income, race and ethnicity, geography). The sample week of March 23, 2020. The sample was poststratification weighted to ensure a balanced representation across social and demographic subgroups (gender, age, income, race or ethnicity, geography). The sample comprised 51% female; 23% non-White; 18% Hispanic; 25% of households with children under 18 years of age; 55% unmarried; and nearly 20% unemployed, laid off, or furloughed at the time of the interview. Respondents were fearful, averaging a score of nearly 7 on a scale of 10 when asked how fearful they were of COVID-19. Preliminary analysis suggests clear spatial diffusion of COVID-19 fear. Fear appears to be concentrated in regions with the highest reported COVID-19 cases. Significant differences across several U.S. census regions are noted (p < .01). Additionally, significant bivariate relationships were found between socially vulnerable respondents (female, Asians, Hispanic, foreign-born, families with children) and fear, as well as with mental health consequences (anxiety and depressive symptoms). Depressive symptoms, on average, were high (16+ on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale), and more than 25% of the sample reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. More in-depth psychosocial research is needed using nationally representative samples that can help to inform potential mental health risks, as well as by targeting specific mental health interventions.
•Examines the intersection of distress, location (region), social vulnerability, and mental health consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic.•National sample (n = 10, 368) of adults surveyed during ...the last week of March 2020 and post-strata weighted.•Fear highest among socially vulnerable and unequally distributed across regions of the U.S.•Fear, worry and social vulnerabilities are significantly associated with anxiety/depressive symptomatology, net of social vulnerabilities.•Subjective assessments of distress are important factors related to mental health, even after controlling for location and group differences.
COVID-19 is rearranging our society with fear and worry about the novel coronavirus impacting the mental health of Americans. The current study examines the intersection of COVID-19 fear, worries and perceived threat with social vulnerabilities and mental health consequences, namely anxiety and depressive symptomatology.
Using an online platform, a national sample (n = 10, 368) of U.S. adults was surveyed during the week of March 23, 2020. The sample was post-strata weighted to ensure adequate representation of the U.S. population based on population estimates for gender, race/ethnicity, income, age, and geography.
Fear and worry are not distributed equally across the country; rather they are concentrated in places where the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is found. Additionally, data highlight significant differences in the subjective perception of distress across groups with varying social vulnerabilities. Women, Hispanics, Asians, families with children under 18, and foreign-born respondents reported higher levels of subjective fear and worry compared to their counterparts. Finally, even after controlling for social vulnerability, subjective assessments of distress were positive, and significantly related to anxiety and depressive symptomatology; prior mental health research from China and Europe confirm what others have begun to document in the United States.
This preliminary work provides practitioners with a glimpse of what lies ahead, which individuals and communities may be the most vulnerable, and what types of strategic interventions might help to address a wide range of mental health consequences for Americans in the months and years ahead.
Exposure to natural disasters predisposes individuals to significant physical and mental health consequences. Research identifies a number of stressors important to determining what might exacerbate ...this exposure risk, as well as what types of social/psychological resources might help mitigate these negative outcomes. Using a targeted quota sample of adults (n = 316) interviewed two months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Texas in August 2017, the present study examines the intersection of vulnerabilities, stressors, and resources and their relationship with post-traumatic stress symptomatology. Stress is high among this sampled group with over one-quarter of respondents reporting high enough symptoms to meet the clinical caseness criteria for PTSD. Results show significant variation across categorical groupings of post-traumatic stress symptoms; younger persons, nonwhites, and those displaced from their home during the storm were more likely to be found in the highest symptom count category. Regression results confirm the bivariate results and as hypothesized, stressors were associated with higher symptom reporting among respondents, and social and psychological resources were associated with lower symptom reporting. With one of the only studies to report these relationships between vulnerability, stressors, and resources in the post-disaster Harvey setting, our work underscores the importance of identifying who is at risk, what factors can potentially mitigate that risk, and just how severe the consequences can be for survivors requiring mental health services after a disaster. Clearly, more work is needed, particularly on the identification of resources acting as protection against the overwhelming circumstances of exposure to devastation and destruction caused by natural disasters.
•316 Hurricane Harvey survivors were surveyed three months after Harvey hit in 2017.•Study examines intersection of vulnerabilities, stressors, and resources with PTS.•40 percent interviewees scored moderate to high PTS symptom range.•PTS symptoms were not evenly dispersed across subgroups of survivors.•PTS symptoms were related to circumstantial risk, stressors and resources.
Background
The current study examines interrelationships between social vulnerability, individual stressors, social and psychological resources, and depressive symptomatology among US adults during ...the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic.
Methods
Using an online survey platform, a poststratified (by age, gender, race, income, and geography), representative sample (n = 10,368 adults) is used in the analysis.
Results
On average, sample respondents report Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES‐D) Scale symptomatology nearly a point higher than the often used cutoff score for clinical caseness (16+); one‐third of respondents had CES‐D scores higher than 25. Multiple regression results show elevated levels of depressive symptomatology among the socially vulnerable (women, Hispanic, unmarried, not working). Those persons expressing heightened COVID‐19 fear and moderate to high levels of food insecurity report more depressive symptoms than persons with less fear and low or no food insecurity. All three of the resource variables (mastery of fate, strength of ties, and optimism) are significant and in the negative direction.
Conclusions
In a snapshot, the data provide an important point prevalence assessment of adult depressive symptoms during the current public health crisis. Results highlight the significance of vulnerability and individual stressors in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition, the analysis affirms the importance of access to social and psychological resources to combat heightened fear and anxiety that persons report during the current pandemic.
Objective
The current paper examines the intersection between social vulnerability, individual risk, and social/psychological resources with adult suicidality during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Method
...Data come from a national sample (n = 10,368) of U.S. adults. Using an online platform, information was gathered during the third week of March 2020, and post‐stratification weighted to proportionally represent the U.S. population in terms of age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and geography.
Results
Nearly 15 percent of sampled respondents were categorized as high risk, scoring 7+ on the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire‐Revised (SBQ‐R). This level of risk varied across social vulnerability groupings: Blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, families with children, unmarried, and younger respondents reported higher SBQ‐R scores than their counterparts (p < .000). Regression results confirm these bivariate differences and also reveal that risk factors (food insecurity, physical symptoms, and CES‐D symptomatology) are positive and significantly related to suicidality (p < .000). Additionally, resource measures are significant and negatively related to suicidality (p < .000).
Conclusions
These results provide some insight on the impact COVID‐19 is having on the general U.S. population. Practitioners should be prepared for what will likely be a significant mental health fall‐out in the months and years ahead.
Previous studies find preventative behaviors designed to reduce the number of infections during emerging disease outbreaks are associated with perceived risk of disease susceptibility. Few studies ...have attempted to identify underlying factors that explain differences in perceptions of risk during an infectious disease outbreak. Drawing from two early waves of American Trends Panel (n=7,441), as well as a National Science Foundation funded, Qualtrics national panel survey from the early stages of the pandemic (n=10,368), we test whether race and ethnicity, gender, and age were associated with six perceived threat and fear outcomes related to COVID-19. Results demonstrate race and ethnicity, gender, and age play a significant role in shaping threat and fear perceptions of COVID-19, but depending on the outcome, relationships vary in direction and magnitude. In some cases, historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups were more likely to report high fear and perceive coronavirus as a major threat to population and individual health, whereas, in others cases, the same marginalized racial and ethnic groups were less likely to perceive coronavirus to be a serious threat to the immune-comprised and the elderly population. We also find women were generally more likely to report high levels of threat and fear of COVID-19. Finally, we observe a clear age difference, whereby adults in older age groups report high-risk perceptions of COVID-19. Findings can inform public health programs designed to educate communities on the benefits of engaging in effective preventative practices during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
•Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to report high fear of coronavirus.•Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to perceive coronavirus as a major threat to population.•Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to perceive coronavirus as a major threat to individual health.•Women are generally more likely to report high levels of threat and fear of COVID-19.•In general, older age groups report high-risk perceptions of COVID-19.
This research examines the intersection of social vulnerability, risk, and their impact on individual food insecurity odds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data come from a national, post-stratification ...weighted sample of U.S. adults (n = 10,368). Logistic regression analysis confirms what we hypothesized - socially vulnerable, fearful, persons in poorer health, and those with higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms have higher food insecurity odds. Findings underscore the importance of redesigning food systems in the U.S. during health crises like the current one; alternative strategies to meet increased food needs in the face of a pandemic are discussed.
Food insecurity is not randomly dispersed throughout the population; rather, there are a number of risk and protective factors shaping both the prevalence and severity of food insecurity across ...households and sociodemographic populations. The present study examines some of these factors and the role that race and ethnicity among adolescent individuals in north-west Arkansas might play, paying specific attention to a subgroup of Pacific Islanders: the Marshallese.
The study uses cross-sectional survey data collected from a self-administered questionnaire of 10th-12th grade students.
A city in north-west Arkansas, USA.
The number of enrolled students in the selected high school at the time of the survey was 2148. Ten classrooms (116 students) were unable to participate at the time of the survey, making 2032 students eligible to be surveyed. Approximately 22% refused to participate and 105 students were absent from school, yielding a response rate of approximately 78% (n 1493).
Marshallese students had a higher prevalence of food insecurity than all other racial and ethnic groups in the study. After controlling for other sociodemographic, risk and protective factors, their odds of food insecurity remained significantly higher than both non-Hispanic White and Hispanic or Latinx students.
Adolescent food insecurity among Marshallese students must be made sense of in relation to structural-level determinants that shape the distribution of vital resources such as food across racial, ethnic and foreign-born lines.
COVID-19 variants continue to create public health danger impacting mortality and morbidity across the United States. The spillover effects of COVID-19 on the economy and social institutions pose a ...significant threat to broader wellbeing, including the food security of millions across the country. We aim to explore whether the context of place matters above and beyond individual and social vulnerabilities for food insecurity. To do so, we employ a multi-level framework using data from a survey of over 10,000 U.S. adults from March 2020 with American Community Survey (ACS) and John Hopkins COVID Dashboard county-level data. We find nearly two in five respondents were food insecure by March of 2020 with disparities across race, nativity, the presence of children in the home, unemployment, and age. Furthermore, we note that individuals living in more disadvantaged communities were more likely to report food insecurity above and beyond individual and social vulnerabilities. Overall, food insecurity is driven by complex, multi-level dynamics that remain a pressing public health concern for the current-but also future-public health crisis.
•Hurricane Harvey survivors reported “thoughts about killing themselves” at 2.5 times more than the general population as reported in a recent national survey.•A significant set of risk and ...protective factors provides important insight into the vulnerabilities of natural disaster survivors.•Despite limitations, the current study is the first to report the intersection of suicide ideation, risks, and protective factors among a sample of 300 Hurricane Harvey survivors.•Food insecurity and post-traumatic stress symptoms are significant individual risks/stressors that elevate odds of suicide ideation among survivors.•For this particular sample, religious social capital and optimism were significant protective factors that helped minimize the negative influences of exposure and its impact on suicide ideation.
Previous studies have documented evidence of increased suicidality after natural disasters. While there is some disagreement about when and how long mental health consequences are sustained in the post-disaster setting, it is nevertheless an important outcome requiring further examination.
In the present study, a sample of Hurricane Harvey survivors (n=316) were interviewed over a three-month period beginning in October 2017, two months after a Category 4 hurricane devastated the Texas Gulf Coast. Using logistic regression, the analysis examines sociodemographic vulnerabilities, as well as individual risks that potentially exacerbate and protections that mitigate the odds of suicide ideation among survivors.
Approximately 10 percent of the sampled survivors reported suicide ideation post-Hurricane Harvey. Females, persons with elevated symptoms of post-traumatic stress symptoms, persons reporting moderate to high levels of food insecurity, and those with previous mental health issues were related to higher odds in reported suicide ideation. We examined a number of protective factors and religious social capital and optimism were both negative and statistically significant (p < 0.05) and related to lower odds of suicide ideation.
To our knowledge, these findings are the first to come out of the Hurricane Harvey disaster zone, specifically focusing on suicide ideation. Mental health professionals need to continue to be sensitive to the nuance of disaster impact on the psychological functioning of survivors, with potential negative mental health symptoms persisting 6 to 12 months after a natural disaster event.
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