ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate gender and racial/ethnic disparities in mental health and treatment use in college and graduate students amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Based on a large-scale online survey (N = 1,415) administered during the weeks following a pandemic-related university-wide campus closure in March 2020, we examined gender and racial disparities in current internalizing severity and treatment use with t-tests and logistic regression models. Results: Specifically, we found that students with marginalized gender (e.g., woman [p < .001], non-binary gender [p < .001]) or Hispanic/Latinx identity (p = .002) reported higher levels of internalizing problem severity compared to their privileged counterparts (e.g., man, non- Hispanic/Latinx White). Regarding treatment use, Asian (p < .001) and multiracial students (p = .002) reported lower treatment use after controlling for internalizing problem severity. Internalizing severity was generally associated with higher treatment use (logit = 0.53, p = .001), indicating a match of objective needs with service use. However, this relationship was offset by a negative interaction between internalizing problem severity and Asian (logit = -0.49, p < .001) or Black identity (logit = -0.57, p = .03) in predicting treatment use. Conclusion: The findings revealed unique mental health challenges faced by different demographic groups and served as a call that specific actions to enhance mental health equity, such as continued mental health support for students with marginalized gender identities, additional COVID-related mental and practical support for Hispanic/Latinx students, and promotion of mental health awareness and trust in Asian/Black students, are desperately needed.