Category: Culture / Ethnicity / Race
Amanda Venta, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
German Cadenas, Ph.D.
Lehigh University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jesse Walker, M.A.
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Andy Torres, B.S.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas
Alfonso Mercado, Ph.D.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas
Ashley Bautista, B.S.
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals and families from ethnic and racial minority groups have experienced health disparities (Yipp, 2020)— referred to as a “a pandemic within a pandemic” (Schmit et al., 2020). People of color have been disproportionately exposed to infection, illness, hospitalization, job loss, and financial insecurity (Raisi-Estabragh et al., 2020). Likewise, children of color have experienced higher infection, illness, and death (Goyal et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2020; Wan, 2020). Families of color have experienced undue exposure to hardship including loss of childcare (Fernando, 2020; Karpman et al., 2020), food shortages, and increased risk of malnutrition (Karpman et al., 2020; OECD, 2020). Young children of color, regardless of family income, are more likely to have missed important medical care visits and vaccinations (CTN, 2020). Importantly, the disproportionate rate of COVID-19 hardship experienced by families of color is not explained by income, with higher income Latinx families with young children experiencing greater hardship than White families (CTN, 2020). As the pandemic has worn on, improvement in the cognitive and social-emotional functioning of young children has been noted among White families, whereas adverse outcomes have persisted over time for young children of color (CTN, 2020a; Dorn et al., 2020).
Despite these inequities and documented disparity for people of color, there is also emerging evidence of positive outcomes, prompting the search for protective factors. Despite disproportionately experiencing COVID-19 and co-morbid health conditions that increase health risk, low-income mothers of color, for instance, paradoxically experienced positive neonatal outcomes in one study of a safety-net hospital (Dhuyvetter et al., 2020). A second study indicated that social restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic had mood enhancing effects for women of color (Silverman et al., 2020), echoing prior research that people of color are more resilient to stressful life events and illnesses (Assari & Lankarani, 2016; Dale & Safren, 2019). In this symposium, we explore sources of both risk and resilience in examining the mental health of people of color during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three talks feature work from three separate labs arranged around this central theme. Findings indicate that Black and/or Latinx individuals have been exposed to financial (Walker) and caregiving (Bautista) stressors during the pandemic. Though evidence of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic exists (Torres) and it appears that some health advantage apparent for first generation immigrants may have eroded (Bautista), evidence of resilience also emerged, with Black and Latinx individuals displaying lower symptoms despite greater adversity (Walker). Discussant, Dr. Germán Cadenas, an expert in the psychological wellbeing of minoritized individuals, including immigrants and Latinxs, will comment on the themes that emerge across these three diverse presentations.
Presenter: Jesse H. Walker, M.A. – University of Houston
Co-author: Maria Cuervo, PhD – University of Houston
Co-author: Amanda Venta, Ph.D. – University of Houston
Presenter: Andy U. Torres, B.S. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Presenter: Alfonso Mercado, Ph.D. – University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Presenter: Ashley Bautista, B.S. – University of Houston
Co-author: Sihong Liu, PhD – University of Oregon
Co-author: Amanda Venta, Ph.D. – University of Houston
Co-author: Philip Fisher, PhD – Stanford University