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1. Crisis response among essential workers and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106852  

   Sugg, M.M. (February 2022, Preventive medicine)

   Limited research has been conducted on the mental health concerns of frontline and essential workers and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (U.S.). This study examined the association between working on the frontlines in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic (March to July 2020) and personal crisis text concerns (e.g., self-harm, suicidal thoughts, anxiety/stress, and substance abuse) for frontline essential workers and the children of frontline workers. We used a novel data set from a crisis texting service, Crisis Text Line (CTL), that is widely used throughout the U.S. Generalized Estimating Equations examined the individual association between eight specific crisis types (Depression, Stress/Anxiety, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Substance Abuse, Isolation, Relationship Issues, and Abuse) and being in frontline work or being a child of a frontline worker during the early phase of the pandemic. Using CTL concerns as a proxy for the prevalence of mental health issues, we found that children of workers, specifically the youngest demographic (13 years and under), females, and non-conforming youth had a higher risk of specific crisis events during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Hispanic children of workers reported higher rates of stress/anxiety, whereas African American children of workers had higher rates of abuse and depression. Frontline workers had a higher risk of suicidal thoughts, and the risk of crisis events was generally highest for non-binary, transgender, and male users. Increases in CTL usage among frontline workers were noted across 7–28 days after spikes in local COVID-19 cases. The research to date has focused on the mental health of frontline essential workers, but our study highlights troubling trends in psychological stress among children of these workers. Supportive interventions and mental health resources are needed not only for frontline essential workers but for their children too. 

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2. Health Promotion and Racial Disparity in COVID-19 Mortality Among African American Populations

   https://doi.org/10.29011/2690-9480.100168  

   Yedjou, CG; Webster, S; Osborne, D; Liu, J; Balagurunathan, Y; Odewuni, C; Latinwo, L; Ngnepiepa, P; Alo, R; Tchounwou, PB (September 2023, Reports on Global Health Research)

   COVID-19, known as Coronavirus Disease 2019, is a major health issue resulting from novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Its emergence has posed a significant menace to the global medical community and healthcare system across the world. Notably, on December 12, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the utilization of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. As of July 31, 2022, the United Stated has witnessed over 91.3 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1.03 million fatalities. An intriguing observation is the recent reduction in the mortality rate of COVID-19, attributed to an augmented focus on early detection, comprehensive screening, and widespread vaccination. Despite this positive trend in some demographics, it is noteworthy that the overall incidence rates of COVID-19 among African American and Hispanic populations have continued to escalate, even as mortality rates have decreased. Therefore, the objective of this research study is to present an overview of COVID-19, spotlighting the disparities among different racial and ethnic groups. It also delves into the management of COVID-19 within the minority populations. To reach our research objective, we used a publicly available COVID-19 dataset from kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/paultimothymooney/covid19-casesand- deaths-by-race. In addition, we obtained COVID-19 datasets from 10 different states with the highest proportion of African American populations. Many considerable strikes have been made in COVID-19. However, success rate of treatment in the African American population remains relatively limited when compared to other ethnic groups. Hence, there arises a pressing need for novel strategies and innovative approaches to not only encourage prevention measures against COVID-19, but also to increase survival rates, diminish mortality rates, and ultimately improve the health outcomes of ethnic and racial minorities. 

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3. A Pandemic of Mental Health: Evidence from the U.S.

   https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijdsa.20241004.12  

   Coleman, Ed; Innocent, Jhavon; Kircher, Sarah; Montesinos-Yufa, Hugo; Trauger, McKade (September 2024, International Journal of Data Science and Analysis)

   The direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the indirect impact of the ensuing economic and political response have affected the United States on a large scale. We document a substantial surge in anxiety and depression symptoms from 2019 to 2020 driven by the young adult population, indicating a disproportional indirect impact on the young. Multivariate regression analysis was utilized to quantify the stringency of state responses’ indirect effect on the changes in anxiety or depression symptoms during the pandemic. While we observe a slight decline in the share of the adult population experiencing anxiety and depression through July 2021- June 2022, such decline does not compensate for the large surge of mental health issues among young adults in 2020. Overall, our results indicate that the effects of the stringency of the mitigation measures on different areas of health are complex and vary by state, with a wide variation of mental health-related issues by age group and a higher prevalence in younger adult age categories. After discussing inequities in the accessibility of mental health treatment, lack of health insurance, and implications for quality of life among young adults, this paper adds to the breadth of ongoing COVID-19 research and emphasizes the importance of considering the overall health of the population in a large-scale health crisis as well as discussing the potential unintended consequences of the mitigation measures put in place. 

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4. Education Racial and Gender Disparities in COVID-19 Worry, Stress, and Food Insecurities across Undergraduate Biology Students at a Southeastern University

   https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00224-21  

   Correia, Kelly M.; Bierma, Shannon R.; Houston, Sophia D.; Nelson, Madison T.; Pannu, Khushwant S.; Tirman, Chase M.; Cannon, Randi L.; Clance, Lauren R.; Canterbury, Dawn N.; Google, Angela N.; et al (April 2022, Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education)

   Goller, Carlos C. (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT The global spread of the novel coronavirus first reported in December 2019 led to drastic changes in the social and economic dynamics of everyday life. Nationwide, racial, gender, and geographic disparities in symptom severity, mortality, and access to health care evolved, which impacted stress and anxiety surrounding COVID-19. On university campuses, drastic shifts in learning environments occurred as universities shifted to remote instruction, which further impacted student mental health and anxiety. Our study aimed to understand how students from diverse backgrounds differ in their worry and stress surrounding COVID-19 upon return to hybrid or in-person classes during the Fall of 2020. Specifically, we addressed the differences in COVID-19 worry, stress response, and COVID-19-related food insecurity related to race/ethnicity (Indigenous American, Asian/Asian American, black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, white, or multiple races), gender (male, female, and gender expressive), and geographic origin (ranging from rural to large metropolitan areas) of undergraduate students attending a regional-serving R2 university, in the southeastern U.S. Overall, we found significance in worry, food insecurity, and stress responses with females and gender expressive individuals, along with Hispanic/Latinx, Asian/Asian American, and black/African American students. Additionally, students from large urban areas were more worried about contracting the virus compared to students from rural locations. However, we found fewer differences in self-reported COVID-related stress responses within these students. Our findings can highlight the disparities among students’ worry based on gender, racial differences, and geographic origins, with potential implications for mental health of university students from diverse backgrounds. Our results support the inclusion of diverse voices in university decisioning making around the transition through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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5. Spatiotemporal patterns of youth isolation and loneliness in the US: a geospatial analysis of Crisis Text Line data (2016–2022)

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-024-11253-w  

   Lucero, Christopher; Sugg, Margaret_M; Ryan, Sophia_C; Runkle, Jennifer_D; Thompson, Martie_P (December 2024, GeoJournal)

   Abstract In 2021, the US Surgeon General issued a national advisory citing an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately half of people in the US reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness. Despite localized and select cross-sectional studies highlighting even higher increases in isolation/loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional research is needed, particularly for youth and young adults. This work examines patterns of isolation/loneliness across the US from 2016 to 2022 among individuals aged 24 and younger. Our study leverages a unique dataset, Crisis Text Line, which provides complete spatiotemporal coverage of crisis conversations in the US. We conducted a geospatial analysis using Kuldroff’s Space–Time SatScan to identify statistically significant clustering of elevated isolation/loneliness-related conversations. The statistical significance of spatiotemporal clusters was determined using Monte Carlo simulations (n = 9999). Results demonstrated local relative risk as high as 1.47 in high-risk populations in Southern, Midwest, and Atlantic states, indicating areas where the actual case count is 147% of the expected cases (pvalue < 0.01) from May to July 2020. Results also identified co-occurrence of isolation/loneliness and other crises concerns, including depression/sadness, anxiety, and multiple suicidality indicators, with higher rates among racial/ethnic minority, transgender and gender diverse, and younger individuals. This work makes a unique contribution to the literature by elucidating spatiotemporal disparities in isolation/loneliness among young people, providing much-needed knowledge as to where future public health interventions are immediately needed. 

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