Study: Women feel more COVID-related anxiety than men
Women in Houston face more mental health impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic than men, according to a new study from the University of Houston, which found that woman disproportionately reported increased anxiety levels.
The study, released Tuesday by the Hobby School of Public Affairs, analyzed survey results from 1,063 participants who live in the Houston-area. Among them, nearly 34 percent of women and 25 percent of men said they felt anxious nearly everyday or more than half of each week.
About 26 percent of women reported feeling no anxiety at all, compared to 43 percent of men.
Overall, the study showed that most Houston-area residents feel some form of COVID’s impact on economic, physical and mental health.
“Job loss, furloughs and salary reductions cut across all layers of society, although workers who are Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino felt the greatest impact,” said Sunny M.C. Wong, an economist and professor at the Hobby School.
While 20.6 percent of respondents overall reported losing a job, that rose to 24 percent for Hispanic/Latino residents and 26 percent for Black/African American residents, according to a news release about the study.
Researchers said two out of three people living in the greater
Houston area report feeling anxious since the pandemic began, and more than four out of five people told researchers they are worried about the postCOVID economy.
More than 10 percent said a friend or family member had died of the virus, while almost 30 percent said they had contracted the virus themselves or personally know someone who had. Additionally, most said they are unimpressed with how state and federal government leaders are handling the pandemic response.
Researchers drew the statistics from a Hobby School survey conducted earlier this year, along with an analysis of the U.S. Household Pulse survey conducted in late summer by the U.S. Census Bureau, the news release said.
Among other findings, nearly half of participants report spending more than eight hours per week helping children with online schooling. Four percent of Black and Asian/Pacific Islander respondents said they spent more than 40 hours a week on that task.