Coping at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences in Psychological Distress by Race/Ethnicity and Educational Attainment

Variations in psychological distress and coping across race/ethnicity and education early in the COVID-19 pandemic remains insufficiently examined. In this study, we analyzed both survey data (American Trends Panel; N = 8,016) collected in spring 2020 and data from in-depth interviews conducted with college-educated Black people in the summer of 2020. The linear regression results show that within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between education and distress varied across racial/ethnic groups. Compared to peers without a college degree, average distress for Black and White people with an associate’s degree was statistically lower; distress for Black people with a graduate degree was statistically lower. Average distress did not differ statistically among Hispanic people across education. To explore possible explanations for the survey findings—particularly the findings for Black college-educated people—we include in-depth interview data collected from college-educated Black people. When faced with pandemic-related stressors, we found that interviewees’ coping processes included emotion-focused and appraisal-focused strategies. We suggest that one possible reason for the survey findings is that the most highly educated interviewees engaged in social comparisons that highlighted the mildness of their own stress exposure relative to less advantaged others.