Disability, COVID-19-Related Stressors, Discrimination, and the Amplification of Psychological Distress

As the disproportionate psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities has become more apparent, separate strands of research have considered the explanatory role of pandemic-related stressors and discrimination. The goal of this study was to assess whether discrimination and pandemic-related stressors jointly contributed to differences in psychological distress among people with disabilities compared to those without disabilities. Data from a 2020 cross-sectional community survey in the Intermountain West region of the United States (N = 2,012) with a sizeable subsample of people with physical, psychological, and intellectual or developmental disabilities (n = 1,020) were used to assess variation by disability status in the independent and joint associations of pandemic-related stressors and discrimination exposure with psychological distress. Ordinary least squares regression results confirmed the associations of disability, pandemic-related stressor exposure, and discrimination with psychological distress. Three-way interaction results further indicated that the interactive effects of pandemic-related stressor exposure and discrimination for psychological distress were significantly greater for people with disabilities relative to people who were not disabled. Extending earlier calls to address disability-related discrimination in public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study demonstrates that discrimination amplifies the psychological impact of pandemic-related stressors for people with disabilities.