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

Abstract

Previous research demonstrates that pandemics, including COVID-19, have disproportionate effects on communities of color, further exacerbating existing healthcare inequities. While increasing evidence points to the greater threat posed by COVID-19 to Latinx communities, less remains known about how identification as Latinx and migration status influence their perception of risk and harm. In this article, we use cross-sectional data from a large national probability sample to demonstrate a large positive association between ethnic identity and migration status and perceptions of harm from COVID-19 in the US. We find that individuals identifying as Hispanic/Latinx and first-generation immigrants report significantly greater risks of becoming infected by COVID-19 in the next three months, and dying from the virus if they do contract it. Further, subgroup analysis reveals that health risks are especially felt by individuals of Mexican descent, who represent the largest share of US Latinxs. Collectively, our results provide evidence about how the pandemic places increased stress on people from Latinx and immigrant communities relative to White non-Hispanic individuals in the US.

An intersectional and social determinants of health framework for understanding Latinx psychological distress in 2020: Disentangling the effects of immigration policy and practices, the Trump Administration, and COVID-19-specific factors.

“…Another variable in December 2019 tapped into Latinxs’ perceptions of the Trump Administration’s impacts on Hispanics, and another is a more general evaluation of the situation of Hispanics in the country. Perceptions of anti-Hispanic discrimination are linked with psychological well-being, before and during the pandemic (Jamieson et al, 2021; Mata-Greve & Torres, 2020; Santos et al, 2021). A discrimination scale based on five items collected in 2019, such as reporting that the respondent “been called offensive names because you are Hispanic” and “personally experienced any other kind of discrimination or been treated unfairly because of your Hispanic background” was coded consistently (i.e., higher scores were more discrimination) then summed and included in the analysis.…”

“…Consistent with recent studies (Gomez-Aguinaga et al, 2021), the analyses included an indicator for whether the respondent was Mexican, the largest U.S. Latinx group, or identified as from another country/region 4 . Recent work has suggested that Mexican-descended people perceive higher risks of COVID-19 infection and death than other Latinx groups (Jamieson et al, 2021). Language of interview in December 2019 also was included, as it has previously been linked with Latinx mental health (Barragán et al, 2020; Becerra et al, 2020).…”

“…Like other Americans, the pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of the U.S. Latinx population (Garcia et al, 2021;Garcini et al, 2022;Gomez-Aguinaga et al, 2021;Jamieson et al, 2021;Salgado de Snyder et al, 2021;Tran et al, 2022;Villatoro et al, 2022). 2 Latinxs are the nation's largest community of color, numbering more than 60 million people (Noe-Bustamante et al, 2020).…”

Understanding the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx emerging adults

“…Importantly, the prevalence of mental health diagnoses increases among second generation racial/ethnic minority immigrants with U.S.-born Latinx reporting higher rates of most psychiatric disorders than Latinx immigrants ( Alegría et al, 2008 ; Salas-Wright et al, 2014 ). Other research has shown that being a second-generation immigrant was associated with increased perceived health risk from COVID-19 ( Jamieson et al, 2021 ). With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chavez et al (2021) identified that Latinx young adults who were exposed to anti-immigrant rhetoric during the first year of the pandemic reported negative emotions including sadness and anger.…”

Perceived vulnerability to immigration policies among postpartum Hispanic/Latina women in the MADRES pregnancy cohort before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“… 7 – 10 These simultaneous events during the pandemic period have placed a high mental burden among immigrant communities who report increased perceptions of vulnerabilities to COVID-19 as well as higher levels of perceived discrimination. 6 , 11 Such perceived vulnerabilities may impact the overall psychological well-being and utilization of health care resources among postpartum women of color 12 – 15 as the COVID-19 pandemic period has also been associated with a disproportionate increase in symptoms of distress and anxiety among postpartum women from marginalized communities. 16 – 23 …”