Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University, United States.
Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Jan;269:113557. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113557. Epub 2020 Nov 29.
The tremendous job loss and wage cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns about the mental health of the population. The impacts of income shocks on mental health may differ across U.S. states during the pandemic, as states have different policy contexts that likely influence mental health. The present study uses survey data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey (April-July 2020) to examine whether mental health outcomes vary across U.S. states and to what extent specific state-level contexts moderate the associations between household income shocks and depression (n = 582,440) and anxiety (n = 582,796). We find that the prevalence of depression and anxiety differs across states by household income shock status. For individuals, living in a state with supportive social policies - primarily those related to Medicaid, unemployment insurance, and suspended utility shut offs during the pandemic - weakens the association between household income shocks and mental health. Findings suggest that the lack of a strong federal response to the pandemic alongside the devolution of federal power to states over the past 40 years contributes to inequalities in mental health across states. We provide insight about how specific existing and emergency-related policies can reduce adverse mental health consequences of household income shocks.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，大量的失业和减薪引起了人们对人口心理健康的担忧。在大流行期间，收入冲击对心理健康的影响可能因美国各州而异，因为各州的政策背景不同，这可能会影响心理健康。本研究使用美国人口普查局家庭脉搏调查（2020 年 4 月至 7 月）中的调查数据，来检验心理健康结果是否因美国各州的不同而有所差异，以及特定的州级环境在多大程度上调节了家庭收入冲击与抑郁（n=582440）和焦虑（n=582796）之间的关联。我们发现，各州的抑郁和焦虑患病率因家庭收入冲击状况而异。对于个人来说，生活在一个社会政策支持力度较大的州——主要是那些与大流行期间的医疗补助、失业保险和暂停水电费停供有关的政策——会削弱家庭收入冲击与心理健康之间的关联。研究结果表明，联邦政府对大流行的应对不力，以及过去 40 年来联邦权力向各州的下放，导致各州之间的心理健康不平等。我们提供了有关如何利用现有的和与紧急情况相关的政策来减轻家庭收入冲击对心理健康产生的不利影响的见解。
