Journal
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages 662-674Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/21677026211049374
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic; socioeconomic disparities; education; mental health; financial stress; psychological distress; open materials; preregistered
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Funding
- Faculty Competition for Postdoctoral Fellowship from Wayne State University
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational disparities have a significant impact on mental health trajectories, particularly in eudaimonic well-being, negative affect, and psychological distress. However, these disparities do not seem to worsen over time, and financial stress may partially explain these educational differences.
In this preregistered study, we examined educational disparities in the trajectory of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether such educational disparities would be mediated by financial stress associated with the pandemic. Data were drawn from the Love in the Time of COVID project (N = 2,204; four waves collected between March and June 2020). Results suggested educational disparities in eudaimonic well-being, negative affect, and psychological distress and showed significant associations between lower education and worse mental-health outcomes at baseline. However, education did not amplify mental-health disparities over time and exhibited no associations with the rates of change in mental health. Financial stress mediated the associations between education and mental health at baseline, and there were no temporal variations in the mediation effect. These results highlight persistent educational disparities in mental health, and such educational disparities may be partially explained by financial stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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