Initial research has indicated that college students have experienced numerous stressors as a result of the pandemic. The current investigation enrolled the largest and most diverse sample of college students to date ( N = 4714) from universities in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ), the epicenter of the North American pandemic in Spring 2020. We described the impact on the psychological, academic, and financial health of college students who were initially most affected and examined racial/ethnic group differences. Results indicated that students’ mental health was severely affected and that students of color were disproportionately affected by academic, financial, and COVID-related stressors. Worry about COVID-19 infection, stressful living conditions, lower grades, and loneliness emerged as correlates of deteriorating mental health. COVID-19’s mental health impact on college students is alarming and highlights the need for public health interventions at the university level.
The study examined the relationships between social anxiety (SA), generalized anxiety (GA), and depression with racial microaggressions and internalized racism (IR) among Black young adults. Given SA's core features, we expected it to have a unique association with IR, and to moderate the connection between racial microaggressions and IR. Participants were 182 Black university students who completed measures of SA, GA, depressive symptoms, racial microaggressions, and IR. Linear regression models indicated that IR was a significant predictor of SA, but not GA or depression. Racial microaggressions were only positively associated with depressive symptoms. SA and racial microaggressions each predicted IR, but no interaction was found. Black young adults with elevated concerns of others' evaluation may be more prone to accepting negative stereotypes about one's racial group.
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