The psychological and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latina mothers in primarily low-income essential worker families.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic will have widespread health, economic, and psychological consequences. Reports indicate the Latino community is particularly vulnerable to the economic and health risks of this pandemic as a consequence of systemic oppression. Latina mothers, in particular, are navigating the pandemic from their racialized, gendered, and classed positions while caring for children and families. These factors are likely to have a significant psychological toll. The sample consisted of 70 Latina mothers. The majority of the families (72%) contained at least one employed adult, of which 91.7% were essential workers. Factors associated with stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms during the initial March 20 to June 1, 2020, California “shelter in place” mandate were assessed via phone survey using validated measures and Likert-scale items created for the study. Receipt of the federal stimulus check on stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms was also assessed. Due to the pandemic, 52.7% of the mothers reported being forced to engage in economic cutbacks. Mothers’ experiences of stress during the outbreak stem from worries about themselves contracting the virus and making economic cutbacks. Economic cutbacks were also associated with greater reports of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Receiving the stimulus payment did not reduce economic cutbacks, contract worries, stress, or depressive and anxiety symptoms. Findings highlight the pandemic’s immediate economic toll on Latino families. Further, these economic implications seem to be having downstream effects on mothers’ psychological well-being, which were not alleviated by the stimulus payment.

Coping With COVID-19: The Impact of the Pandemic on Latina Immigrant Women’s Mental Health and Well-being

“…In terms of the impact of COVID-19, participants experienced significant losses to employment and income. Our findings were consistent with previous research documenting an increased burden of the pandemic on women, who are more likely than men to adjust their employment to take on increased caregiving responsibilities, due to school and child care closures (Hibel et al, 2021;Morgan et al, 2021;Reichelt et al, 2020). Because many immigrants were ineligible for federal government benefits, women in our study relied on temporary relief funds providing cash assistance.…”

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cancer Care and Health-Related Quality of Life of Non-Hispanic Black/African American, Hispanic/Latina and Non-Hispanic White Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in the U.S.: A Mixed-Methods Study Protocol

“…Racial and ethnic minority groups share the unequal burden of being more likely to be low-income essential workers [ 22 ] and unemployed [ 23 , 24 ], forcing these populations to make economic cutbacks during the pandemic [ 22 ], which induces elevated stress and anxiety [ 22 ]. Residential racial segregation has been also consistently linked with a variety of adverse health outcomes, underlying health conditions, and affects minoritized groups more than NHWs [ 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

A Virus Without Papers: Understanding COVID-19 and the Impact on Immigrant Communities

“…In their study of Bhutanese and Burmese refugees in the United States, Zhang et al (2021) noted that the three largest risk factors for contracting COVID-19 were being an essential worker, having an infected family member, and being female. Hibel et al (2021) also found that Latina mothers were particularly at risk due to their role in caring for children and family members in essential occupations.…”

“…Some studies have already confirmed that the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is most prevalent in essential worker families and immigrant communities. Hibel et al (2021) found that 72 percent of their Hispanic families contained at least one employed adult, of whom 91.7 percent were essential workers. Roberts et al (2020) discovered that essential workers were more likely than nonessential workers to be Black or Hispanic.…”