(PS7-A7) The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 on College Students: The Role of Racial Discrimination and Social Media

COVID-19 has severely impacted the mental health of college students, who represent a disproportionate portion of the U.S. population already vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation (Auerbach et al., 2016). Given the well-established link between racial discrimination and adverse mental health outcomes, students of color are at particular risk, as issues of racial discrimination have been amplified during the pandemic. Additionally, the pandemic has been marked by increased social media use, which poses additional risk of exposure to online negative racial messages. We aimed to improve understanding about social media use and perceived discrimination among college students in the context of COVID-19. During spring of 2020, a racially and ethnically diverse group of undergraduate students (n = 4,808) in New York and New Jersey were surveyed about their pandemic-related experiences. Approximately half of the sample reported using social media “a lot more than usual,” 25% reported “a little more than usual,” and 25% reported decreased use or no change in use. In addition, 23% of students perceived some degree of racial or ethnic discrimination related to COVID-19. We examined the relationship between social media use and mental health impact and tested the mediating role of perceived discrimination. Mediation analysis showed that change in social media use since the COVID-19 outbreak had a direct, unique effect on mental health impact, as well as an indirect effect through racial discrimination perceived by students. These findings suggest that students may be observing increased racism on social media as a result of their increased social media use which is thus, adversely impacting their mental health. Such findings may help to guide therapists and counselors on important areas of focus for young clients who are highly impacted by the current pandemic, and also inform recommendations for healthy social media use, particularly among vulnerable groups like racially minoritized young adults.