New research provides evidence that individuals with certain racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities experience more psychological distress from Donald Trump’s presidency. The study, published in the American Journal of Community Psychology, suggests that individuals who belong to multiple marginalized social identity groups might be at greatest risk of suffering Trump-related distress.
“My graduate student wanted to take this on as a part of her dissertation research because we were becoming increasingly aware of Trump-related distress that undergraduate students from underrepresented groups were reporting to us in our classrooms and daily lives. This study was our chance to explore this phenomenon within a broader study that was ongoing during this time,” said study author Noelle Hurd, an associate professor at the University of Virginia.
In the study, 340 first-year college students were surveyed in the fall of 2013 regarding their mental health. The participants were then surveyed during the midpoint of each following Spring semester from 2014 to 2017. During the Spring 2017 survey, the participants were also asked to indicate how distressed they felt when thinking about Trump.
The researchers found that participants who were Black, Hispanic, female, a sexual minority, or Muslim tended to report more Trump-related distress, even after controlling for political ideology and stressful life events. Trump-related distress levels tended to be highest among those who held two or more of these identities.
Pre-existing anxiety and depressive symptoms were not predictors of Trump-related distress, but Trump-related distress was linked to higher-than-expected anxiety symptoms.
“Individuals holding targeted marginalized social identities reported greater Trump-related distress. Trump-related distress was greater as a function of having more targeted marginalized identities. Trump-related distress also predicted a bump in anxiety symptoms relative to previous trajectories,” Hurd summarized.
“We contended that by publicly disparaging those who hold marginalized identities and attempting to limit the rights of those who already have long-standing experiences of oppression in this country, the Trump presidency may have exerted deleterious effects on the mental health of members of marginalized groups in the months following his election,” the researchers wrote in their study.
But the study — like all research — includes some caveats.
“This study was with college students, and thus, while vulnerable in some respects, this group also may have some added resources and protections relative to marginalized individuals who are the same age but not attending college. They may be more negatively impacted by Trump’s negatively biased rhetoric and policies. Moreover, this study was conducted at the start of the Trump presidency so additional research is needed to understand how marginalized groups have been affected by his administration over the past 3+ years,” Hurd explained.
The study, “Marginalized Identities, Trump‐Related Distress, and the Mental Health of Underrepresented College Students“, was authored by Jamie Nicole Albright and Noelle M. Hurd.