Background

Growing evidence informs about the detrimental impact that COVID-19 has had on youths’ mental health and well-being. As of yet, no study has directly examined the experiences and perspectives of children and young adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S., despite being exposed to more adversity, which may affect coping with the many challenges posed by the pandemic.

Objective

This study aimed to give voice to a mostly Hispanic/Latinx group of youth regarding the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home measures and to identify their emotional responses and coping strategies amid the pandemic in the U.S. when restrictions were at their hardest.

Method

A total of 17 youths (70.6 % Hispanic; age range = 10–14 years; 52.9 % female) participated in four virtual semi-structured focus groups for each grade level (grades 5–8). Data was transcribed and analyzed using a gold standard thematic analysis approach.

Results

Seven themes were identified concerning the impact of COVID-19, centering around the impact of racism, loss of income, the role of community and family in coping with stress, information overload, home-schooling, loneliness and boredom, and lack of structured routines.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that cultural factors (e.g., collectivism and familism) in Hispanic communities may offer important buffering during COVID-19. Future research studies evaluating the implementation of structured programs that provide a space to talk about emotions and thoughts related to the impact of the pandemic and training in strategies to cope with distress during mandatory home-schooling are needed.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 对话：对大流行早期阶段大多数西班牙裔/拉丁裔青年经历的定性研究

 背景

越来越多的证据表明，COVID-19 对青少年的心理健康和福祉产生了不利影响。迄今为止，还没有研究直接考察美国少数族裔儿童和青少年的经历和观点，尽管他们面临更多的逆境，这可能会影响他们应对疫情带来的诸多挑战。

 客观的

这项研究的目的是让主要是西班牙裔/拉丁裔的青年群体就 COVID-19 居家措施的影响发表意见，并确定他们在美国疫情期间限制最严格的情况下的情绪反应和应对策略。

 方法

共有 17 名青少年（70.6% 西班牙裔；年龄范围 = 10-14 岁；52.9% 女性）参加了每个年级（5-8 年级）的四个虚拟半结构化焦点小组。使用黄金标准主题分析方法转录和分析数据。

 结果

确定了关于 COVID-19 影响的七个主题，主要围绕种族主义的影响、收入损失、社区和家庭在应对压力方面的作用、信息超载、在家上学、孤独和无聊以及缺乏结构化的日常生活。

 结论

我们的研究结果表明，西班牙裔社区的文化因素（例如集体主义和家庭主义）可能在 COVID-19 期间提供重要的缓冲。未来的研究需要评估结构化计划的实施情况，这些计划提供了一个空间来谈论与大流行影响相关的情绪和想法，并需要进行应对强制性家庭教育期间困扰的策略培训。