Psychological distress across intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and marital status during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Analyze how psychological distress in the U.S. population during the COVID-19 pandemic differed across race/ethnicity, gender, and marital status.

Design

Cross-sectional data collected March 19-24, 2020, as a part of the American Trends Panel (ATP) were used for this study (N=9,976). Weighted descriptive statistics were estimated. Next, generalized linear models were used to assess differences in psychological distress by race/ethnicity, gender, and marital status. Multivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses were estimated to assess patterns of psychological distress across race/ethnicity-gender net of COVID-19 pandemic variables and control variables. Lastly, OLS regression models were used to assess psychological distress by marital status. Wald tests were completed to compare distress across race/ethnicity-gender.

Results

Adjusting for COVID-19 stressors and control variables, White women frequently reported higher distress compared to the other groups. Hispanic men reported lower distress symptoms than White men and Hispanic women. The cohabiting and married had lower distress symptoms compared to the never married. In the analyses by marital status, race/ethnicity-gender differences were present among the never married, married, and marital disruption groups such that White women reported higher distress than other groups. Black married women reported greater distress symptoms compared to married White and Hispanic men.

Conclusions

The findings of this study show that White women were especially vulnerable to psychological distress at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, despite marriage being a health-promoting status, it is only among the married that Black women reported greater distress than other groups. Married Black women and White women generally need psychological health resources as they are perhaps overtaxed in meeting the demands of family, such as teaching school-age children in the home or caring for elders during the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychological distress
• COVID-19
• intersectionality

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Arkansas Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Junior Faculty Fellowship.