According to a recent poll, nearly half (48%) of Hispanic adults said that their level of stress increases during the holidays, compared to 43% of white adults, 37% of Black adults, and 41% of all adults. This year, 31% of Hispanic adults also indicated they’d be more stressed than last year, as opposed to 22% of white adults, 21% of Black adults, and 22% of all adults. That trend bore out through a number of the mental health-related poll questions, with Hispanic adults generally more worried about various aspects of the holiday season.

The poll, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) was fielded between November 17-21, 2021, among a nationally representative sample of 2,119 adults. Among the findings, Hispanic adults were more likely to say they were worried about:

• Contracting COVID at a holiday gathering (52%) than all adults (38%), white adults (37%), and black adults (41%);
• Affording gifts (54%) than all adults (46%), white adults (46%), and Black adults (43%);
• Finding/securing gifts (51%) than all adults (40%), white adults (41%), and Black adults (39%); and
• Working long hours (48%) than all adults (35%), white adults (36%), and Black adults (26%) (asked among employed adults).

“The results from this poll showed us that the stressors of the holiday season impact everyone to an extent, but it’s more extreme within the Hispanic community,” said APA President Vivian Pender, M.D. “This community is historically underserved with mental health care, so it’s very important for psychiatrists and other clinicians to be attuned to their potential needs and to understand how these stress points can play out.”

“Given the outsized impact of COVID-19 on the Hispanic community as well as the historic impacts of structural racism, against the backdrop of the holiday season, it’s not surprising that they are expressing increased stress,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. “What we can do is work to further normalize conversations about mental health and to make sure we, as doctors, are reaching out to the community with culturally informed messages that emphasize that we are here to help.”

The full results are available here. Las entrevistas se realizaron en línea y los datos se ponderaron para aproximar una muestra objetivo de adultos según el género, el nivel educativo, la edad, la raza y la región. Los resultados tienen un margen de error de más o menos 2 puntos porcentuales.

Read this release in Spanish.

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 37,400 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information please visit www.psychiatry.org.