Racial and Gender Discrimination Predict Mental Health Outcomes among Healthcare Workers Beyond Pandemic-Related Stressors: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Survey

Rachel Hennein, Jessica Bonumwezi, Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, Petty Tineo and Sarah R. Lowe
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Rachel Hennein: Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Jessica Bonumwezi: Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako: Department of Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Petty Tineo: Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Sarah R. Lowe: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: Racial and gender discrimination are risk factors for adverse mental health outcomes in the general population; however, the effects of discrimination on the mental health of healthcare workers needs to be further explored, especially in relation to competing stressors. Thus, we administered a survey to healthcare workers to investigate the associations between perceived racial and gender discrimination and symptoms of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and burnout during a period of substantial stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a national racial reckoning. We used multivariable linear regression models, which controlled for demographics and pandemic-related stressors. Of the 997 participants (Mean Age = 38.22 years, SD = 11.77), 688 (69.01%) were White, 148 (14.84%) Asian, 86 (8.63%) Black, 73 (7.32%) Latinx, and 21 (2.11%) identified as another race. In multivariable models, racial discrimination predicted symptoms of depression (B = 0.04; SE: 0.02; p = .009), anxiety (B = 0.05; SE: 0.02; p = .004), and posttraumatic stress (B = 0.01; SE: 0.01; p = .006) and gender discrimination predicted posttraumatic stress (B = 0.11; SE: 0.05; p = .013) and burnout (B = 0.24; SE: 0.07; p = .001). Discrimination had indirect effects on mental health outcomes via inadequate social support. Hospital-wide diversity and inclusion initiatives are warranted to mitigate the adverse mental health effects of discrimination.

Keywords: discrimination; race and ethnicity; healthcare workers; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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