Mental health among Hispanic college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Concurrent and predictive effects of negative and positive COVID-19 changes

Abstract

Objective: We generated items to assess COVID-19 changes among Hispanic college students and examined the concurrent and predictive effects of these changes vis-à-vis mental health. Participants: The sample consisted of 559 Hispanic first-year (69% women; age range 18–22; 88.1% U.S.-born; 84% Mexican/Mexican American) attending a public university in Texas. Methods: Students participated in a three-wave longitudinal online survey assessing stressors, COVID-19 changes, anxious and depressive symptoms, hope, and self-esteem. Results: Students experienced negative changes across six life domains as a result of the pandemic-related lockdowns: education; health; relationships; finances; social issues; death/loss. They also reported positive changes during the lockdowns. Negative changes were positively correlated with higher, and positive changes with lower, acculturative and perceived stress. Negative COVID-19 changes predicted lower mental health. Conclusions: Hispanic students experienced both negative and positive COVID-19 changes, which were related to their mental health. Results can guide research and decision-making during future pandemics.

Keywords:

• Hispanic college students
• COVID-19
• positive
• negative
• mental health
• measurement development

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the University of Texat at Austin.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the National Institute of Health.

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at Austin. Preparation of this article was supported by Grants P2CHD042849 (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development); and K01AA028057-01A1 (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism).