Exploring Differential Impacts of COVID-19 related Fear and Psychological Health Consequences on College Students
Start Date
21-6-2021 10:10 AM
End Date
21-6-2021 10:55 AM
Topic
Mental Health
Session Chair
Lindsey Disney
Abstract
The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had devastating impacts across the world, including lockdowns, drastic levels of mortality, economic recession and substantial stress on both individuals and the healthcare system. The spread of COVID-19 has induced fear and stress therefore increasing the risk and severity of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Increased evidence posits that individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in the United States. Moreover, ethnic minority college students may be especially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to academic, physical, financial, and psychological stressors. Understanding the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different ethnic minority subgroups is important to support individuals most likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined the impact of fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate students’ mental health across different racial groups. The authors hypothesized that ethnic minority groups would report higher fear of COVID-19 due to differential impacts the disease has had on these communities. Secondly, the study examined if COVID-19 related fear would predict higher anxiety and depression. Lastly, coping strategies were examined to determine whether college students employed behaviors that may impact their psychological health. Data were collected from 249 students between April 2020 and November 2020. Self-report questionnaires assessing COVID-19 related fear, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies were ascertained using Qualtrics software. Results from an analysis of variance (ANCOVA) suggested that White students endorsed significantly less COVID-19 related fear compared to Black and Asian students even after controlling for sex and income. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that COVID-19 related fear was a unique predictor for higher anxiety and depressive symptoms among students after controlling for sex, income, and race. Coping behaviors such as denial, substance use, self-distraction/action, and negative coping were also predictive of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Black and Asian students had significantly higher COVID-19 related fear than other racial groups, and students with higher COVID-19 related fear reported increased depression and anxiety. These preliminary findings provide insight on the role of race and ethnicity on fear perceptions of COVID-19 and may help to inform the development of strategies targeted toward vulnerable communities to alleviate emotional burden and provide better support both during and beyond these unprecedented times.
Author Bio
(Presenter)
Amanda is a third year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University at Albany. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Spanish and Human Development & Family Studies at the University of Delaware. While at UD, Amanda worked as a research associate under the mentorship of Dr. Mary Dozier in the Attachment & Biobehavioral Catch-up lab, which studies the effects of early adversity on child development. Upon graduation, she accepted a full time position with the lab and supervised and tracked fidelity for clinicians implementing both the infant and toddler models of the intervention in the community. She was also involved as a parent coach in the ongoing clinical trial of a modified version of ABC, for families struggling with opioid dependence. In the evenings, Amanda worked as a pediatric extern at Nemours/A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children in the Parent-Child Conduct Clinic. Amanda also volunteered as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children and adolescents in the foster care system. She currently works under the mentorship of Dr. Betty Lin in the Family and Baby Development lab. Her primary research interests include studying the intergenerational effects of adverse childhood experiences, child and family factors that contribute to health, developmental outcomes, and well-being in underserved populations, perinatal and maternal stress, and improving the dissemination and implementation of interventions aimed to serve high-risk and underserved populations in community, school, and primary care settings.
Li Shen Chong is currently a third year Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. She graduated from University of Minnesota in 2017 with a B.S. in Psychology and two minors in Neuroscience and Management. She worked as a research assistant in the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for the Cognition and Brain Lab and Adolescent Depression Lab prior to her graduate studies. Li Shen’s research uses the biosocial approach to investigate the underlying pathways and processes of health outcomes. This approach focuses on the bidirectional interactions between biological variables and social contexts. Her research interests primary focus on the interaction between biology functioning (e.g., cortisol, skin conductance level, respiratory sinus arrhythmia) and family environmental (e.g., harsh parenting, interparental conflict, non-violent discipline) factors in influencing both mental and physical health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, aggression, physical somatic symptoms). She is also interested to understand the biosocial interaction of life stressors and autonomic functioning on mental health disparities among minority populations.
Elana Gordis is an associate professor of psychology at the University at Albany. She has been teaching at UAlbany since 2005 and currently serves as Director of Clinical Training. She completed her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Southern California and a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA. Her research examines family relationships and effects of exposure to family and community violence. She is particularly interested in the role of physiological stress response systems in the effects of parenting and violence exposure on child and adolescent functioning.
Professor Lin's research focuses on clarifying how stressors secondary to social disadvantage influence children’s social and emotional development beginning as early as the prenatal and early childhood years. Professor Lin is especially interested in understanding (1) how stress exposure may calibrate children’s developing stress response systems, (2) how children’s stress responsivity transacts with child, family, and community factors to confer risk, resilience, and adaptation, and (3) the intra- and intergenerational consequences of these processes for health and well-being in children from marginalized populations. My research addresses how this stress responsivity may manifest behaviorally, such as in children's temperament, and physiologically, such as in children's sympathetic, parasympathetic, and adrenocortical responding. Ultimately, the goal of my research is to clarify the developmental processes that promote health and well-being in children with social disadvantage.
Laura Welch, M.A., is a fourth-year clinical psychology doctoral student at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She earned her B.A. in psychology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and M.A. in clinical psychology from the University at Albany. Currently, Laura is a member of the Family and Baby (FAB) Development Lab which aims to better understand factors that contribute to risk, resilience, and adaptation in children and families from underserved communities. Broadly, Laura’s research focuses on parenting stress, childhood adversity, and protective factors that promote resilience. Her research is motivated by a strengths based rather than deficits perspective. She recently completed her master’s thesis examining the impact of preschool children’s temperament and parenting stress on parenting behaviors. Her current research focuses on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on college students’ executive functioning using an adaptation-based perspective. Her clinical interests include cognitive behavioral treatment of children and adolescents, behavioral parent training, and assessments. She plans to continue researching the effects of adversity and parent-child relationships on early child development and implement research into clinical treatment, particularly among communities that may face barriers in accessing mental and behavioral health support.
Document Type
Extended Abstract
Exploring Differential Impacts of COVID-19 related Fear and Psychological Health Consequences on College Students
The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had devastating impacts across the world, including lockdowns, drastic levels of mortality, economic recession and substantial stress on both individuals and the healthcare system. The spread of COVID-19 has induced fear and stress therefore increasing the risk and severity of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Increased evidence posits that individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in the United States. Moreover, ethnic minority college students may be especially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to academic, physical, financial, and psychological stressors. Understanding the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different ethnic minority subgroups is important to support individuals most likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined the impact of fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate students’ mental health across different racial groups. The authors hypothesized that ethnic minority groups would report higher fear of COVID-19 due to differential impacts the disease has had on these communities. Secondly, the study examined if COVID-19 related fear would predict higher anxiety and depression. Lastly, coping strategies were examined to determine whether college students employed behaviors that may impact their psychological health. Data were collected from 249 students between April 2020 and November 2020. Self-report questionnaires assessing COVID-19 related fear, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies were ascertained using Qualtrics software. Results from an analysis of variance (ANCOVA) suggested that White students endorsed significantly less COVID-19 related fear compared to Black and Asian students even after controlling for sex and income. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that COVID-19 related fear was a unique predictor for higher anxiety and depressive symptoms among students after controlling for sex, income, and race. Coping behaviors such as denial, substance use, self-distraction/action, and negative coping were also predictive of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Black and Asian students had significantly higher COVID-19 related fear than other racial groups, and students with higher COVID-19 related fear reported increased depression and anxiety. These preliminary findings provide insight on the role of race and ethnicity on fear perceptions of COVID-19 and may help to inform the development of strategies targeted toward vulnerable communities to alleviate emotional burden and provide better support both during and beyond these unprecedented times.
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