To access this work you must either be on the Smith College campus OR have valid Smith login credentials.

On Campus users: To access this work if you are on campus please Select the Download button.

Off Campus users: To access this work from off campus, please select the Off-Campus button and enter your Smith username and password when prompted.

Non-Smith users: You may request this item through Interlibrary Loan at your own library.

Publication Date

2023-05-15

First Advisor

Dr. Nnamdi Pole

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Keywords

COVID-19, resilience, posttraumatic growth, intersectionality, minority stress theory

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many challenges, perhaps especially for those with marginalized identities such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer (LGBQ) community and racial minorities (People of Color; POC). The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by heightened discrimination against Asian individuals due to the origin of the virus and disproportionate hospitalization and COVID-related deaths in Black and Latinx communities. Despite the unparalleled stressors imposed by this pandemic, some groups have been resilient and some have even experienced posttraumatic growth (PTG). The present study assessed how race, sexual orientation, and the intersection of these two marginalized identities (e.g. LGBQ-POC) may be related to pre-COVID resilience, social support, use of coping mechanisms, and posttraumatic growth. A sample of 370 Smith College students completed self-report measures of these variables. There were significant differences in the amount of PTG experienced between minority and majority groups and that their resilience was positively correlated with PTG. Specifically, POC reported more PTG while LGBQ reported less PTG. Problem-focused coping was the primary mediator of the relationship between resilience and PTG, with family social support and emotion-focused coping also mediating this relationship. Minority identity categories (POC, LGBQ, or LGBQ-POC) did not moderate these mediations. The findings of this study suggest that although minority groups differed from majority groups in achieving posttraumatic growth, the path to posttraumatic growth is similar for all groups, regardless of identity and that the most robust way to achieve this growth is through problem-focused coping.

Rights

©2023 Kristin Cirulli. Access limited to the Smith College community and other researchers while on campus. Smith College community members also may access from off-campus using a Smith College log-in. Other off-campus researchers may request a copy through Interlibrary Loan for personal use.

Language

English

Comments

47 pages: charts. Includes bibliographical references (pages 34-39).

Share

COinS