Intersecting Race and Gender across Hardships and Mental Health during COVID-19: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Graduate Students at Two Universities

Background and Purpose: While the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of college students can vary across race and gender, few studies have explored the role of hardships and university assistance in these disparities, as well as how these disparities can manifest themselves differently across intersections of race and gender. Recent research using survey and administrative data from a large research university demonstrates that women experience worse economic and health outcomes associated with COVID-19 and therefore are more likely to experience disruptions in their academic outcomes. We use the theory of intersectionality, which provides a framework for understanding how multiple dimensions of identity can lead to unique experiences of marginalization. We hypothesize that (a) the relationship between race and mental health will be significantly mediated by hardships, and (b) the relationships among race, mental health, and hardships will be significantly moderated by gender.

Methods: We fill this gap in research by using unique survey data of 464 students across two large graduate schools of social work, public health, and social policy in the United States. Using multi-group structural equation modeling, we explore how household hardships, academic hardships, and university assistance needed mediates the relationship between race and mental health, including depression and anxiety. We also explore how gender moderates these relationships.

Results: We find that Black students are directly related to household hardships and—through these hardships—indirectly related to increased depression, indicating mediation. However, household hardships did note mediate the relationship between race and anxiety. Furthermore, while academic hardships mediated the relationships between race and depression, as well as race and anxiety, these relationships were only significant for female students, indicating moderated mediation. Moreover, while university assistance needed only mediated the relationship between race and depression for female students, university assistance needed mediated the relationship between race and anxiety for both male and female students.

Conclusions and Implications: While experiences of hardships and needs were not equally distributed during the pandemic, it is important to note that many inequities in higher education existed prior to COVID-19. Thus, better understanding these inequities will have implications both for COVID-19 pandemic response as well as longer-term efforts to address historical disparities and inequities faced by students of color and women in higher education. In addition to advancing a more comprehensive understanding of students’ experiences and needs during the pandemic, our findings build on the previous research that highlights unique experiences, distinct needs, and disparities across diverse student populations in higher education, particularly around mental health.