COVID-19 Stress and Coping Among Black Youth: The Role of Socio-Emotional Community Mentor Support

Abstract

This study examined associations between COVID-19 stress and the utilization of engaged and disengaged coping responses among diverse Black youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the role of mentor social-emotional support was tested as a moderator of these associations. Participants were 1232 youth ages 11 to 18 year old from the United States who identified as Black/African American. Analyses indicated that COVID-19 stress was positively associated with both engaged and disengaged coping. Results also showed a significant interaction between COVID-19 stress and mentor social-emotional support in the prediction of engaged coping, such that COVID-19 stress positively predicted engaged coping more pronouncedly at lower levels of mentor support than at higher levels of mentor support. Similarly, there was also a significant interaction between COVID-19 stress and mentor social-emotional support in predicting disengaged coping, such that at low levels of mentor support, COVID-19 stress was marginally associated with disengaged coping. At high levels of mentor support, COVID-19 stress was no longer significantly associated with disengaged coping. The current study highlights that the social-emotional support of mentors can attend to the psychosocial strengths of Black youth even in the face of concurrent, ongoing stressors.