Mental Health, Material Possessions, and Social Capital During COVID-19: A Study of the United States Urban Working-Age Population

Abstract

This study evaluates the associations between the urban working-age population’s mental health, material possession, and social capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific stressors examined in this empirical analysis are income level, food insecurity, and virtual psychological support. This paper further examines the differences across the employed and unemployed population groups. We obtained data from the COVID-19 Household Impact Survey and constructed four measures of mental health conditions: Nervous, Depressed, Lonely, and Hopeless. Our empirical analyses use an ordinal regression model that takes both time and regional factors into consideration to control for potential time effects and time-invariant confounders that only vary between regions. For the employed group, the main results suggest that lower income and food insecurity is correlated with a higher frequency of mental health symptoms, while virtual psychological support predicts a better mental health status. For the unemployed group, food insecurity is negatively associated with mental health, and virtual psychological might help alleviate nervousness and depression.

Associations of Psychological Capital, Coping Style and Emotional Intelligence with Self-Rated Health Status of College Students in China During COVID-19 Pandemic

“… 12 , 13 Moreover, it has been shown that psychological support might mitigate the effect of COVID-19-caused stress in university students in Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic 20 and that individuals with more psychological support had better mental health status. 19 In consistence with this principle, our study showed that at the same level of emotional intelligence, college students with a high psychological capital score had better self-rated health state than those with a low one.…”

“… 16 Psychological resilience, an ability to “bounce back” from a negative emotional experience and to confront stressful situations, is a major protective factor of burnout in nurses. 17 , 18 Moreover, a recent study reported that psychological support was positively associated with better mental health, 19 which might alleviate psychological impact in university students of Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic. 20 Mediating analyses showed that psychological capital had direct and indirect effect on mental health via social capital during COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19), occurred in early January 2020 in Wuhan, China, resulting in the complete lockdown of Wuhan right before the eve of Chinese (or Lunar) New Year. To help slow the spread of highly contagious COVID-19, most of the cities in China later on took a series of prevention and control measures such as the restriction of traveling, party gathering and business operation, and social distancing, isolation and contact tracing.…”

Associations of psychological capital, coping style and emotional intelligence with self-rated health status of college students in China during COVID-19 pandemic

“…High emotional intelligence could signi cantly alleviate the anxiety, maintaining mental health for student during the pandemic 12,13 . Moreover, it has been shown that psychological support might mitigate the effect of COVID-19-caused stress in university students in Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic 20 , and that individuals with more psychological support had better mental health status 19 . In consistence with this principal, our study showed that at the same level of emotional intelligence, college students with a high psychological capital score had better self-rated health state than those with a low one.…”

“…Psychological resilience, an ability to "bounce back" from a negative emotional experience and to confront stressful situations, is a major protective factor of burnout in nurses 17,18 . Moreover, a recent study reported that psychological support was positively associated with better mental health 19 , which might alleviate psychological impact in Bangladesh university students during COVID-19 pandemic 20 .…”