Coping with COVID-19: Differences in hope, resilience, and mental well-being across U.S. racial groups

Abstract

Objectives To explore if the COVID-19 pandemic revealed differences across racial groups in coping, resilience, and optimism, all of which have implications for health and mental well-being. Methods We collect data obtained from four rounds of a national sample of 5,000 US survey respondents in each round from April 2020 to February 2021. Using logistic regression and fixed effects models, we estimate the pandemic impacts on COVID-19 related concerns, social distancing behaviors, and mental health/life satisfaction and optimism for racial/income groups. Results Despite extreme income and health disparities before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, Blacks and Hispanics remain more resilient and optimistic than their White counterparts. Moreover, the greatest difference in resilience, optimism and better mental health—is found between poor Blacks and poor Whites, a difference that persists through all four rounds. Conclusions These deep differences in resilience have implications for the long-term mental health of different population groups in the face of an unprecedented pandemic. Better understanding these dynamics may provide lessons on how to preserve mental health in the face of public health and other large-scale crises.

The differential impact of COVID-19 on mental health: Implications of ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability status in the United States

“…No other mental health score means were found to differ significantly by ethnicity. While this disproves our original hypothesis, it is in line with recent COVID-19 research (Graham et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2020), again explained by some sociologists as a feature of resilience against long-standing oppression, in which low levels of omnipresent stress protect some people against the spikes in stress that the COVID-19 pandemic caused for others (Llera and Newman, 2010;Fishback et al, 2020). This theory is supported by the positive correlation between African-American ethnicity and internal LOC, particularly as it relates to resilience in mental health (Bachem et al, 2020).…”

“…In early 2020, China identified mental health concerns in the general population as well, citing panic, anxiety, and depression as major concerns ( Qiu et al, 2020 ). Actual illness, income and job inequality, governmental preparation and communication, and stigma toward those infected have been cited as concerns for mental health ( Graham et al, 2020 ; Hossain et al, 2021 ; Piltch-Loeb et al, 2021 ). In the United States, of particular concern were loneliness, low distress tolerance, and COVID-19 worry, which are associated with clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Liu et al, 2020 ).…”

Substance use, racial/ethnic identity, and suicidal ideation during COVID-19 lockdown in an international adult sample

“…Their findings suggest that US adults, regardless of racial/ethnic identity, experienced similar levels of psychological distress. Furthermore, Graham et al (2022) noted that Black respondents not only reported better life satisfaction, optimism, and mental health outcomes during the pandemic than their White peers. Although those studies did not examine suicidal ideation as a specific outcome, their findings suggest that factors, such as coping and resilience, may be critical intervention points for improving mental health outcomes.…”

COVID-19 and Mental Health in China: Effects of Personality and Demographics

“…[24] [25] [26] [27]). Finally, there is a large and growing literature investigating the effects of the pandemic on mental health using data from several countries ([28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]).…”