Incidents of discrimination are part of the everyday life experiences of adolescents of color, yet we know almost nothing about how discrimination gets under the skin to influence adolescent health. Although discrimination (the focus of the original K01) is a clear stressor in the lives of youth, with the COVID- 19 pandemic, an unexpected and potent new stressor has been introduced to adolescents? daily lives. Moreover, the stark inequities in health and disease burden borne by the poor and racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S. have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, and certain groups are encountering discriminatory treatment tied directly to the pandemic. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the discrimination experienced by adolescents both within and outside the context of COVID-19, could initiate or further contribute to health disparities tied to race/ethnicity and social class observed in adult populations. Adolescence is a key time to study these stress processes since the social-cognitive ability to recognize discriminatory treatment emerges in the second decade of life, as do effective coping mechanisms for dealing with major life stressors, such as those tied to the current pandemic. My proposed competitive revision targets biodemography and the pathways by which COVID-19 stress/stressors influence developmental trajectories of adolescent health and well-being. In addition to integrating COVID-19 stressors into the biopsychosocial model tested in my original K01 (Aim 1), I introduce two new primary aims for my research project as part of the K01 competitive revision: (1) Document the extent to which COVID-19 is influencing all aspects of the daily lives of adolescents and (2) Examine the extent to which COVID-19 is disrupting trajectories of well-being. To address these new research aims, I will leverage three waves of rich longitudinal data from a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample collected pre-pandemic (annually from 8th to 10th grades) with three new data collection waves collected during the pandemic (11th and 12th grade). These data will allow me to document how COVID-19 may be disrupting trajectories and psychological well-being, physical health, and academics, the extent to which these disruptions are temporary (denoting recovery) versus long-lasting, who is more likely to recover, and how relationships with important others (families, teachers/schools, friends) might mitigate disruptions. Along with these survey data, I will integrate interviews to delve deeply into COVID-19 and the lived experiences of adolescents during the pandemic as well as daily diaries to capture how daily processes, social interactions, and well-being are influenced by COVID-19 stressors. Texas relaxed social distancing requirements May 1, 2020 without reaching goals for adequate COVID-19 testing, and it thus provides an important backdrop for understanding how this global pandemic is compromising adolescents? trajectories in real-time. This will provide invaluable information for those designing and implementing interventions for adolescents as they weather major life stressors and larger sociohistorical events.
Investigation of biopsychosocial processes, particularly those revolving around discrimination and other major life stressors, are crucial to understanding the etiology health disparities and to identifying new and innovative policy interventions. This revision examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting trajectories of adolescent well-being spanning mental and physical health and academics as the pandemic unfolds in real-time, placing particular attention on who is at particular risk and what promotes resilience. Capturing the vulnerability that young people face in this broad-reaching pandemic is important to both theorizing about and taking action on health disparities in the population.
