Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Anxiety and Adversity

The experience of the global COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to historically high levels of anxiety across a variety of populations. However, the effects of this event vary widely across group memberships. This empirical study used an online panel survey (N = 878) to investigate potential racial differences across multiple areas of COVID-19-era functioning in Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)-identified respondents and Caucasian-identified respondents. Results suggested that BIPOC-identified respondents were significantly more likely to report higher levels of virus-related anxiety, to know 1 or more people who had tested positive for the virus and to experience problems in areas of daily functioning such as obtaining adequate food, accessing safe transportation, and addressing the unique challenges of parenting during the pandemic. In addition, BIPOC-identified individuals were significantly more likely to hold a job in a field that involved direct contact with others, such as health care or retail, that involved more potential virus exposure than other occupations. Overall, it appears that BIPOC-identified individuals are likely at higher risk for experiencing both anxiety and adversity due to COVID-19-related events. These results suggest multiple opportunities and pathways to better support BIPOC-identified individuals, families, and communities.