Students supporting students: evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on resident assistant mental health

Abstract

Objective: To examine the impact of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) pandemic on Residents Assistants (RA) at a public university in the Midwest. Participants: Sixty-seven RAs that had been offered an RA position for the ‘20-’21 academic year. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey measuring socio-demographics, stress, and well-being was fielded. MANCOVA models evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on well-being of Current RAs and compared to the non-current RA groups. Results: Sixty-seven RAs provided valid data. Overall, 47% of RAs had moderate-severe anxiety and 86.3% had moderate-high level of stress. Current RAs perceiving a great impact of COVID on life had significantly more stress, anxiety, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress than those who did not. RAs who started then quit experienced significantly higher secondary trauma compared to Current RAs. Conclusions: Further research is needed to better understand the experiences and of RAs and to develop policies and programs to support RAs.