Black Adults Living with Long COVID: A Study Reveals Hidden Mental Health Consequences

Black adults living with long COVID pointed to challenges with their physical health – rather than their mental health – when asked to describe their long-COVID symptoms. That is one key finding from our new study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Study Methodology

For the study, we asked nearly 500 Black adults in the U.S. to respond to a series of psychological questionnaires measuring various mental health outcomes in the spring of 2022. All participants, regardless of their long-COVID status, provided responses to these survey questions.

Next, we asked study participants to describe their long-COVID symptoms by using their own words to type short phrases or sentences. When analyzing their written responses, we found that participants most often pointed to physical or cognitive health conditions such as chest pain, troubled breathing, prolonged coughing, headaches, memory loss, impaired vision or smell, and sharp bodily pains.

Findings

When we examined the data further, however, we found that those living with long COVID in the U.S. had significantly more anxiety, depression, hopelessness, psychosis and suicidal thoughts than those without long COVID.

In other words, while participants clearly explained how long COVID impaired their physical health, they were less likely to attribute their recent mental health struggles to any issues stemming from their experiences of long COVID.

Why it Matters

During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Americans were more likely to work in the service industry or in front-line positions and in turn were at greater risk for COVID-19 exposures and infections. Research confirms that members of this group also experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths during the earliest waves of the pandemic.

What’s Being Done

Researchers are currently focused on understanding the underlying biological pathways leading to long COVID, along with potential biological markers that predispose some individuals to long COVID. Yet much of this work does not account for differences that may emerge either within or across race groups.

What’s Not Known

We analyzed surveys from only one point in time and would need to collect multiple surveys over an extended amount of time before being able to determine whether long COVID causes negative mental health outcomes, or vice versa. As a result, the findings from our study should be understood as correlational, meaning that while there is a statistically relevant relationship between these variables, we cannot rule out the potential influence of other external factors that may also affect Black adults’ mental health during the pandemic.

Conclusion

Our study highlights the importance of collecting multiple forms of data, particularly when studying complex topics such as long COVID among marginalized populations. The findings suggest that Black adults living with long COVID are more likely to experience negative mental health outcomes, but these issues are often overlooked and understudied. Further research is needed to understand how long COVID is linked to psychological outcomes and mental health over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was the purpose of the study?

A: The study aimed to examine the experiences of Black adults living with long COVID, with a focus on their physical and mental health outcomes.

Q: What were the main findings of the study?

A: The study found that Black adults living with long COVID were more likely to experience physical health issues, such as chest pain and headaches, but were less likely to attribute their recent mental health struggles to their experiences of long COVID.

Q: What are the implications of the study’s findings?

A: The study highlights the need for further research into the experiences of Black adults living with long COVID, particularly in terms of their mental health outcomes and the potential long-term consequences of the condition.