Pandemic Anxiety: How Job Loss, Food Insecurity, and Vaccination Shaped Mental Health

What is it about?

The COVID-19 pandemic was not only a public health crisis but also a social and economic disaster that disrupted lives across the U.S. In times of crisis, disaster risk management is crucial to protecting both physical and mental well-being. However, mental health is often overlooked in emergency response efforts. This study examines how job loss, food insecurity, and COVID-19 vaccination influenced anxiety levels, particularly among different racial and age groups, and what lessons can be applied to future disaster preparedness and response. Our analysis of national survey data found that losing a job or struggling to afford food dramatically increased the likelihood of experiencing anxiety. Black and Hispanic Americans faced higher rates of these hardships than White Americans, which contributed to greater mental health burdens. However, when economic stressors were accounted for, Black and Hispanic Americans were actually less likely to experience anxiety than White Americans, highlighting resilience within these communities. Older adults were significantly less likely to experience anxiety than younger and middle-aged adults. One key reason was their relative stability in employment and food security. However, another major factor was COVID-19 vaccination, which strongly reduced anxiety levels, particularly for older adults. Those who were fully vaccinated had much lower odds of experiencing anxiety, likely because vaccination reduced the fear of severe illness and death. These findings emphasize the need for disaster risk management strategies that prioritize mental health. Policies ensuring economic security, food access, and timely vaccine distribution can help reduce psychological distress during public health emergencies. Future crisis response efforts should integrate mental health support alongside traditional emergency measures to safeguard communities from both physical and psychological harm.

Featured Image

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our study provides one of the first comprehensive analyses of how economic hardships (job loss and food insecurity) and COVID-19 vaccination shaped anxiety levels across different racial, ethnic, and age groups in the U.S. during the pandemic. While prior research has examined mental health disparities, our work uniquely integrates these factors within a disaster risk management framework and applies Stress Process Theory (SPT) to show how vaccination functioned as a stress-alleviating resource. Additionally, our findings contribute to the Black-White Mental Health Paradox by showing that racial disparities in anxiety were largely driven by economic stress rather than race itself, with Black Americans exhibiting lower anxiety levels than White Americans after accounting for financial hardships. We also demonstrate that vaccination not only reduced physical health risks but served as a psychological buffer against pandemic-related anxiety, particularly for older adults. These findings underscore the need for mental health-focused crisis response strategies, ensuring that public health interventions integrate economic support, food security, and targeted messaging to address both physical and mental well-being in future emergencies.

Perspectives

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Writing this article was both a challenging and rewarding experience. It allowed me to bridge public health, social epidemiology, and disaster risk management to examine how economic hardships and public health interventions shaped mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is particularly meaningful to me because it highlights the overlooked mental health consequences of disasters—not just in terms of individual well-being, but in how policies and interventions can either exacerbate or alleviate psychological distress. One of the most surprising and thought-provoking aspects of this study was the mental health benefit of COVID-19 vaccination. While vaccines were primarily framed as a tool to prevent severe illness and death, our findings suggest that they also played an important role in reducing anxiety, especially among older adults. This underscores the power of public health measures in shaping not just physical health but also mental resilience. I hope this article encourages more discussions about mental health in disaster response planning. Too often, emergency preparedness focuses solely on physical protection and economic recovery, but mental health support is equally critical. My hope is that this research inspires future policies that integrate psychological well-being into public health crisis management, ensuring that the most vulnerable populations receive both the protection and reassurance they need during uncertain times. More than anything, I hope this work sparks further research and action on how we can better support mental health resilience during and after public health emergencies.

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