Racial and Ethnic Disparities: Essential Workers, Mental Health, and the Coronavirus Pandemic
Published in Review of Black Political Economy, 2021
This study investigates mental health distress among essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic across race and ethnicity. We evaluate individual responses to the patient health questionnaire and general anxiety disorder questionnaire using a unique, nationally representative data set. Our findings suggest that essential healthcare workers reported the highest rates of mental health distress at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. However, when evaluated across race and ethnicity, we find that Black essential healthcare workers disproportionately report symptoms of anxiety; while, Hispanic essential healthcare workers disproportionately report symptoms of depression. Additionally, we find that being a Black or Hispanic essential nonhealthcare worker is associated with higher levels of distress related to anxiety and depression.
Grooms, Jevay, Alberto Ortega, Joaquin A-A. Rubalcaba, and Edward Vargas. “Racial and ethnic disparities: Essential workers, mental health, and the coronavirus pandemic.” The Review of Black Political Economy 49, no. 4 (2022): 363-380.
Profiled by Brookings Institution and the Economic Disparity & Fairness in Growth Committee roundtable on Substance Abuse and Addiction