COVID-19-Related Household Job Loss and Mental Health in a Nationwide United States Sample of Sexual Minority Adolescents

Abstract

Household job loss during COVID-19 constitutes a public health crisis. Research suggests associations between household job loss, harsher parenting practices, and mental health challenges in the general population. Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) face high rates of family stress and rejection, but evidence linking household job loss to SMA mental health is lacking. This study evaluated associations between household job loss, family rejection, and mental health with a national sample of SMA who were sheltering in place with families during the pandemic. SMA from an ongoing prospective study completed an online questionnaire between May 13-31, 2020. It was hypothesized that household job loss during the pandemic would be associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms through family rejection. Household job loss during the pandemic was indirectly associated with SMA mental health through family rejection. These findings highlight how socioeconomic change and policy carry implications for SMA health.

Keywords:

• anxiety symptoms
• COVID-19
• depressive symptoms
• family rejection
• household job loss
• sexual minority adolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

* The parent prospective study’s baseline sample consisted of SMA (N = 1,076); ages 14 to 17, M = 15.86 years, SD = .98; mostly assigned female at birth (66.8%).

† SMA who lived with their families or another relative did not differ in their reports of COVID-19 related job loss χ² (1) = .405, p = .525; family rejection, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms, all t’s < |1.06|, ps > .291).

# A small proportion of SMA (21.4%) reported losing their own jobs. SMA job loss was not associated with household job loss (χ² (1) = .003, p =.954), family rejection, and anxiety and depressive symptoms (t’s < |.376|, ps < .05). For the interest of parsimony, SMA job loss was not included as a covariate in subsequent analyses.

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [R01MD012252] awarded to Jeremy T. Goldbach and Sheree M. Schrager. The funder/sponsor did not participate in the work.