A disaster's disparate impacts: analysing perceived stress and personal resilience across gender and race

Abstract

This research sought to identify differences in perceived stress and personal resilience across gender, race, and different types of stressors (such as rent or mortgage stress) among a sample of United States residents experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. It used a cross-sectional, convenience sampling design for primary survey data collected over 10 weeks starting in April 2020 (n=374). Independent t-tests and binary logistic regression were performed to determine statistically significant differences between gender and race for perceived stress and personal resilience and to pinpoint key contributing factors. Results indicate women exhibited higher levels of stress, with non-IPV (intimate partner violence) reporting women evidencing higher levels of resilience than IPV reporting women. Racial minority women were more likely to experience nutritional stress, whereas White women were more likely to worry about rent or mortgage stress. These findings provide insight into disparate impacts across vulnerable populations at the start of a crisis with implications for improving pre- and post-disaster interventions.