Mental Health and Socio-Emotional Well-Being of Minority Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author’s Note

I wrote this paper for my PSC 142: Social & Personality Development class with Dr. Paul Hastings. As a whole, in this article, I wanted to focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected marginalized communities throughout the U.S. in terms of mental and social-emotional health. This topic was of particular interest to me because I have read numerous news and research articles about how minority communities were disproportionately affected in terms of limited resources to proper healthcare throughout the pandemic. However, I wanted to investigate more on how these communities were affected in terms of mental and social-emotional health. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted families across the U.S. in a myriad of ways; difficulties with finances, getting sick with COVID-19, losing loved ones, and social distancing/lockdowns were all challenges faced by many. However, it is important to note that minority ethnic groups and the LGBTQ+ community were disproportionately impacted during the pandemic due to systemic inequalities. This, in turn, has had considerable impacts on those belonging to these marginalized communities, especially with regards to their mental and social-emotional health. Defined as the ability to develop social connections with others and manage one’s own emotions, the mental and social-emotional health of minority groups is an important topic to consider since this aspect of well-being is vital for development (notably for children and adolescents).

Furthermore, policymakers must make note of the agency notion that affects adolescents’ well-being in order to realize the importance of making current educational and social policies more equitable for diverse populations. Dr. Murry, a professor at Vanderbilt University who has conducted research on African-American communities for over a decade, elaborated on this in her interview with the Society for Research on Adolescence (Murry, n.d.). In particular, she described how having a sense of agency allows youth to believe they have some form of control over their lives, which is key to giving them hope for the future. In this paper, two research articles will be discussed in further detail: an empirical article by Mpofu et al. (2022) and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Statement. While the Mpofu et al. (2022) article addresses the outcomes of perceived racism on minoritized adolescents’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, the SRCD Statement focuses more on the effects that systemic inequalities had on mental health for marginalized children and youth. The purpose of comparing these two papers is to understand how racism and marginalization have both micro and macro influences on individuals who belong to minority communities to further explore the complexities of systemic inequalities that such communities face.

The research article by Mpofu et al. (2022) explores how systemic racism is an important factor that affects the mental well-being of racial/ethnic minority individuals, resulting in racial/ethnic disparities in health outcomes. This is especially important to consider given how communities of color have been affected by structural racism throughout the pandemic. Structural racism in turn has disproportionately affected these communities by hospitalizations, intensive-care admissions, in-hospital deaths, and limited access to quality health care. Similarly, the pandemic highlighted certain issues that already existed, such as the effects of perceived racial discrimination. This is important to note especially due to the fact that “ … perceived racial discrimination among adults is associated with poor mental health, high-risk behaviors (e.g., substance use and misuse), physical health conditions (e.g., hypertension and cardiovascular disorders), and other adverse health outcomes,” (Mpofu et al., 2022). The fact that perceived racial discrimination among adults is associated with adverse health outcomes shows just how strong the connection is between racial discrimination in healthcare with health complications, such as poor mental health. Thus, advancements need to be made such that racial discrimination in healthcare is eliminated once and for all, further benefiting these marginalized communities. 

The effects of racial discrimination on youth are also seen in schools, however there is limited research on this issue. Thus, Mpofu et al. (2022) have worked towards researching more about this topic in their study. While there is no explicitly stated hypothesis by the researchers, it can be speculated that in their study Mpofu et al. (2022) expect to find perceived racial discrimination associated with poor mental health outcomes among adolescents. To examine this hypothesis, the researchers used the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) to study a nationally representative sample of high school students from January to June 2021. This was an online survey in which perceived racism at school, mental health and behavioral characteristics, demographic characteristics (sex, race/ethnicity), and grade level were analyzed. Results demonstrated that around one-third of all high school students reported perceived racism, with Asian and Black students reporting the highest rates, respectively. While there was no consistent pattern regarding the association between rates of perceived racism and biological sex, a higher prevalence of perceived racism was commonly found among students with poor mental health. In understanding this issue, the results have implications on how to improve student’s educational experiences and well-being—by formulating culturally competent training for staff and students to facilitate learning about cultural awareness and antiracism. Furthermore, it is important to note that “ … perceived racism was reported by students belonging to all racial and ethnic groups, with higher prevalence among students who reported poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, not feeling close to persons at school, and difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions than those who did not report such mental health and behavioral characteristics” (Mpofu et al., 2022).

Similarly, the SRCD Statement also discusses the negative impacts on the mental and social-emotional health of individuals from minority communities during the pandemic, especially in terms of systemic inequalities that cause disproportionate impacts on communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community. These include issues such as financial/socio-economic difficulties, high COVID-19 infection rates, educational inequities, and lack of community due to social distancing and losing loved ones (to name a few).All of these issues have culminated together in negatively impacting the well-being of marginalized individuals. For instance, American Indian and Alaska Native youth have experienced higher rates of domestic violence and abuse, increased risk of suicide attempts, poly-drug use, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and limited connections due to social distancing and loss of family members due to COVID-19. Asian American children and adolescents have faced anti-Asian sentiments and/or Sinophobia, which increased psychological distress as well as internalizing and externalizing problems, along with poor academic performance. (Examples of internalizing problems include anxiety and depressive disorders while externalizing problems include verbal and physical aggression, to name a few.) Black youth have also been troubled with a range of issues, such as fears about their family’s financial situation, being exposed to COVID-19, police brutality, and lack of support due to social distancing, as well as facing disproportionate rates of loss due to COVID-19. Latinx children and adolescents have similarly experienced anxiety about their own safety and losing their parents to deportation as well as restrictive changes in policies leading to food insecurity and other challenges. LGBTQ+ youth have also experienced rejection or harassment, particularly from caregivers and siblings, thus leading to increased fears of staying at home due to the increased risk of child abuse and domestic violence.In this way, youth from all of these minority communities have faced the effects of systemic inequalities on their mental health.  

For each community, the Statement also included suggestions for more effective policies that could improve mental well-being. These suggestions included having more diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures in place with regards to school curriculum and faculty, as well as training to address anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies. Furthermore, the Statement suggested that policymakers should ensure that students have the technology they need to be successful in school and that programs should be created to provide mental healthcare and economic support for families (to name a few). From these detailed reports by the SRCD Statement, it is essential to note the importance of developing a nuanced understanding of each marginalized community to truly understand the impact the pandemic had on them (in both universal and unique ways). 

In conclusion, both the empirical research and the SRCD Statement discuss the negative effects on mental health that the COVID-19 pandemic had on adolescents from ethnic minority communities. However, the research article was mostly focused on how perceptions of racism were associated with poor mental health outcomes, which were analyzed based on students’ race/ethnicity, sex, and age. While the Statement also took into account the different mental health outcomes for different minority groups, it addressed children and youth from a more macro-level of analysis by focusing on larger systemic inequalities. The Statement also addressed the LGBTQ+ community, which was not included in the research article’s analysis. From both sources, it can be seen that minority groups in the U.S. unfairly had to deal with system inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, in turn affecting them universally and uniquely in disproportionate ways. As a whole, the implications of these findings suggest the importance of educating oneself about the disproportionate ways the pandemic affected minority communities in the U.S. This knowledge in turn can be used to educate others about the reality of outcomes of the pandemic, and hopefully address the formation of future policies for the betterment of society in terms of inclusiveness and diversity.

References 

McBride Murry, V. (n.d.). Impact Interview: Velma McBride Murry [Interview]. In SRA COVID-19 Impact Interviews. Society for Research on Adolescence. https://srad.mclms.net/en/guest/package/7058/lesson/53170/view 

Mpofu, J. J., Cooper, A. C., Ashley, C., Geda, S., Harding, R. L., Johns, M. M., Spinks-Franklin, A., Njai, R., Moyse, D., & Underwood, J. M. (2022). Perceived racism and demographic, mental health, and behavioral characteristics among high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic — adolescent behaviors and experiences survey, United States, January–June 2021. MMWR Supplements, 71(3), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7103a4 

Yip, T. (2020). Statement of the Evidence. Society for Research in Child Development.