DAILY DISCRIMINATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PREDICTS STRESS BEYOND DEMOGRAPHIC AND COVID-19 SELF-EFFICACY DIFFERENCES

ABSTRACT

Individual differences in experiences of stress are considered a primary pathway through which health disparities are thought to arise. Because COVID-19-related outcomes differ across demographic characteristics, it is important to examine factors associated with increased stress among diverse participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher discrimination based on demographic characteristics has been associated with heightened stress prior to the pandemic, and lower self-efficacy for preventing and overcoming COVID-19 might disproportionately lead to stress among demographic groups where individuals are more likely to hold “essential worker” positions. Therefore, the current study examined whether experiences of discrimination and COVID-19 self-efficacy associate with stress assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of N=75 participants (Mage= 24;35% Asian, 30% White, 23% Hispanic/Latino, 11% multi-racial, and 3% Black;72% Female;65% Straight/Heterosexual) completed an online questionnaire packet assessing their COVID-19 self-efficacy (assessed using a revised version of the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Self-Efficacy Scale), perceived daily discrimination (Daily Discrimination Scale), and perceived stress (Stress Overload Scale - Short Form). Results from a sequential linear regression indicated that neither demographic characteristics (race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age) nor COVID-19 self-efficacy predicted stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, perceived discrimination predicted stress above and beyond demographic and COVID-19 self-efficacy differences, β = 0.43, p < 0.01, ΔR2 = 0.17. Though in the direction we might expect, there were no significant demographic differences in perceived discrimination, indicating that differences in perceived daily discrimination in our sample might be associated with factors not presently studied (e.g., socioeconomic status) or may arise through an intersection of group membership. These results demonstrate that perceived daily discrimination is an important predictor of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the importance of addressing daily discrimination as a potential avenue for mitigating stress-related COVID-19 outcomes.