Stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, disability, and mental health: Considerations from the Intermountain West.

The deleterious mental health effects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly apparent, however, questions remain about the extent to which pandemic-related stressor exposure has contributed to increased psychological distress among an already disadvantaged group, individuals with disabilities. The first aim of the study was to examine the distribution of pandemic-related stressors across multiple dimensions-employment, personal and family finances, personal relationships, and quality of social life-among individuals with and without disabilities. The second aim of the study was to examine the association between a composite COVID-19 stressor score and two mental health outcomes-depressive and anxiety symptoms-among the two subsamples. The study used quota-based online survey data (N = 2043) collected in the summer of 2020 from adults (18 and older) residing in the Intermountain West, half of whom had a self-reported disability. Study results demonstrated that individuals with disabilities experienced pandemic-related stressors at significantly higher rates relative to their non-disabled counterparts. Further, pandemic stressor exposure was associated with greater negative effects on their psychological well-being. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is generating a secondary mental illness pandemic, and that individuals with disabilities are affected by it at significantly higher proportions.