Immigration and Gender as Social Determinants of Mental Health during the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Case of US Latina/os

Abstract

While men and women make up a similar number of COVID-19 cases, and are equally likely to know someone who has become ill due to the virus, the gendered and systemic implications of immigration during public health emergencies among minority groups in the United States are empirically underexplored. Using the SOMOS COVID-19 Crisis National Latino Survey, we conduct a series of intersectional analyses to understand the extent to which personal experiences with COVID-19, gendered structural factors, and spillover effects of US immigration policies impact the mental health of US Latina/os during a public health emergency. The results show that among Latinas, knowing an undocumented immigrant and someone ill with COVID-19 increases the probability of reporting worse mental outcomes by 52 percent. Furthermore, being a woman increases the probability of reporting the highest level of mental health problems by 30 percent among Hispanic people who know someone with COVID-19 and an undocumented immigrant. These findings indicate that the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak among US Latinas and Latinos are entrenched in gendered and systemic inequalities.

Gendered Factors Associated with Preventive Behaviors and Mental Health among Chinese Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic Home Quarantine

“…A possible explanation to this might be that males in China have traditionally been the primary breadwinners in the household and had to be out working to support the family; thus, they may have found it emotionally challenging to be quarantined at home, especially for an extended period [35]. On the other hand, females aged between 18 and 30 years old were found to display a higher prevalence of moderate to high levels of anxiety, and this aligned with previous research where anxiety was more likely to occur in young females [7,8,36]. A possible reason for this might be that women tended to seek COVID-19-related information via social media channels and were more likely to be excessively exposed to the risk of non-authoritative and distrustful information [37][38][39].…”

Spanish-Language News Consumption and Latino Reactions to COVID-19

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of millions of Latinos in innumerable ways. Latinos have historically experienced health inequalities, which have contributed to adverse health effects during the COVID-19 pandemic [13,55,66]. Therefore, consuming trusted information is essential for Latinos' health.…”

“…Additionally, studies have found that mass media can provide accessible health information and knowledge on preventative behaviors to wide audiences, particularly during public health emergencies [4,51,52]. Many studies conclude that providing racially and ethnically diverse communities with trusted messages can lead these groups to adhere to public health recommendations [53,54], which is of vital importance during public health emergencies that exacerbate health inequalities among racial and ethnic minorities [13,55].…”

Race, Ethnicity, Nativity and Perceptions of Health Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

“…Limina et al [ 36 ] found that the reasons for this increased likelihood of contracting infectious disease are the socioeconomic situations in the country in which they are living. Some of these situations are exacerbated by immigration status in the host country, social exclusion, discrimination, language difficulties, gender, and access to medical services, among other things [ 2 , 36 ]. Distress might be higher on undocumented immigrants having to choose on a day-to-day basis between employment status, financial security, and their health and well-being [ 37 ] as legal residency status permeates immigrants’ position in a stratified system [ 25 , 34 ].…”

“…However, the effects of the virus have not been equally distributed, with countries that explicitly prioritized economic incentives above public health having greater numbers of cases and fatalities [ 1 ]. Furthermore, there are widespread inequities in countries such as the United States, with the COVID-19 pandemic having disproportionate effects on communities of color, further exacerbating existing healthcare disparities [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Yet, while increasing evidence points to the greater threat posed by COVID-19 to Latinx communities, less is known about how identification as Hispanic/Latinx and migration status influence individuals’ perception of risk and harm.…”