Identifying disparities in Mental Illness and Well-Being across Non-Risk, Risk, and Intersectional Groups during COVID-19 and the Sociodemographic's Role in Mental Health Outcomes.

Abstract

Few pandemic studies explored positive aspects of mental health and employed an intersectional perspective, which considers the concomitant action of different risk conditions. Our intersectional investigation aimed to identify possible mental illness and well-being differences between groups identified as psychologically vulnerable in the pandemic by the WHO (immigrants, minorities, and people with psychiatric diagnoses) and people without pre-existing risk factors while controlling for sociodemographic variables. A cross-sectional survey involved 1,134 participants (76.1% women) aged 18 to 76. We utilized the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) for mental disorder assessment and the Life Satisfaction and Positive and Negative Affects Scales for well-being evaluation. Since a variable-centered approach, multivariate analysis revealed significant differences between the groups in the variables of mental health, depression [F(2.1131)=72.7, p<.001], anxiety [F(2.1131)=78.0, p<.001], stress [F(2.11 1)=85.9, p<.001], and subjective well-being [F(2.1131)=53.6, p<.001]. The groups also differed when we employed a person-centered approach to analyze the variables jointly using Latent Profile Analysis. We identified six mental profiles composed of different levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and well-being. Risk and intersectional groups were more likely to be characterized by Generalized Suffering [ORrisk=0.85, ORintersec=0.93] and Profound Anguish [ORrisk&intersec=0.97] profiles. Control of demographic variables indicated that mental health disparities were partially attributed to participant risk conditions.