Symposia
Culture / Ethnicity / Race
Alfonso Mercado, Ph.D.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, adults endorse higher post-Traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in representative U.S. adults (Salehi et al., 2021); similarly, students endorse higher rates of internalizing, poor coping strategies, and loneliness (Asrlan et al., 2021). Students have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic given the discontinuation or saturation of student services (Torres et al., 2022). Furthermore, college students have reported a higher index of PTSS during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic prevalence reports (Torres et al., 2022). It remains unclear if the higher PTSS is related to the conceptual and diagnostic overlap with depressive symptoms, to perceive a loss in protective factors, or the higher rates of loneliness endorsed by this population, given the bidirectional relationship between it and PTSS (Fox, 2021). It is hypothesized that after controlling for demographics, protective factors, and depression, loneliness would predict higher PTSS scores in college students.
As part of an international study, a total of 1,113 college students were sample from the U.S. (49.68%,3), Mexico (8.8%), Ecuador (23%), Chile (12.4%), and Spain (2.5%). Students completed an online anonymous survey in either English (56.3%) or Spanish (43.7. The sample had a mean age of 21.45 (5.25) and were mostly female (70, n=760). The survey included demographic items and mental health screeners including the PHQ-9 (depression), the PCL-5 (PTSS), and the UCLA Loneliness scale (loneliness).
Findings supported final model, Adj. R2=.57, F (4,830) = 80.79, p< .01. The demographic block was significant Adj, R2= .09, F(10,834) =10, p< .01; the protective factors block significantly explained an additional 5.6% of the variance, F(2,832)=27.06, p< .01; depression significantly added 38% to the variance, F(1,831), p< .01; loneliness added 3.4% to the variance F(1,830) = 66.07, p</em>< .01.
In contrast to the Fox et al. model (2021), loneliness did not predict PTSS after controlling for depression and social support. Findings noted depression was more likely to predict PTSS in U.S. Latinx and Latin Americans. This may be related to limited health care access in Latin America during the pandemic; students endorsed symptoms may be more related to the overlap with depression and not with loneliness. This could be in turn partially explained by the collectivist values endorsed by Latin Americans. It is important that clinicians working with Latin American college students conduct a thorough cultural assessment for diagnostic and CBT treatment planning.