Early Childhood Educators’ Perceived Stress and Experiences of Racialized Aggression during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Towards Health Equity: Examining Disparities in Early Childhood Educators’ Well-Being and Working Conditions

Abstract

The health and economic impacts of COVID-19 threaten the mental health of all. Yet, persons of color, including early care and education (ECE) professionals of color, have carried the heavier burden of the pandemic's impacts. Increased exposure to racialized aggression for this low-wage, primarily women of color workforce can reflect the concurrent effects of classist, racist, and sexist biases embedded in the U.S. society. In this study, we examined the relationship between ECE professionals' exposure to racial aggression and their perceived stress levels while exploring the potential moderating effect of their race, considering the importance of understanding both within and between group dynamics related to racialized aggression experiences.

Sample included data collected via Qualtrics for a 12-month (May-June 2020 to May-June 2021) longitudinal survey of 20,038 ECE professionals in all 50 states, the District of Colombia, and Puerto Rico.
Variables of interest: 10-item Perceived Stress Score (PSS-10) scale was used to measure perceived stress level. Key variables of interest were whether participants directly experienced, witnessed, or reported that someone very close to them had directly experienced verbal or physical aggression or exclusion because of their race or ethnicity. We included ECE professionals' age, income levels, and program type as covariates.
Analytical Strategy: Hierarchical linear regression was employed to examine the association between racial aggression-related experiences and PSS-10 in the first year of the pandemic. For each racial aggression experience, we examined the moderating role of race by adding the relevant interaction terms (e.g., Witnessed × Asian) to the model. Finally, we conducted subgroup analyses to further investigate differences in these relationships for each racial group.

Model 1 results showed that all three racialized aggression-related experiences were significantly related to PSS-10 scores after controlling for all socio-demographic characteristics and baseline scores of ECE professionals. In Model 2, baseline PSS-10 scores, income, and gender was positively associated with perceived stress among ECE professionals. Moderation analysis indicated that when Black and Asian ECE professionals directly experience racism, the association between racial aggression and PSS-10 becomes stronger. Results showed that the association between witnessing racism and the change in PSS-10 scores during the first year of the pandemic was weaker for Black ECE professionals compared to whites. Similarly, there was a relatively weaker association between PSS-10 and having someone very close directly experienced racial aggression for Asian ECE professionals.
Subgroup analyses revealed that for white ECE professionals witnessing or having someone very close who experienced racialized aggression was significantly associated with their PSS-10 scores. However, for Asian and Black ECE professionals, only direct experience of racialized aggression had a significant positive relationship with their perceived stress.

As a workforce that relies heavily on the efforts of women of color, the adverse impact of racial aggression on the mental health of ECE professionals deserves considerably more attention. Our findings highlight the relationship between increased stress and racial discrimination for Black and Asian ECE professionals and suggest that systems supporting ECE professionals' wellbeing should include efforts to address racial discrimination.

Authors

• Ayse Cobanoglu, Yale University
  Presenting Author

• Walter S Gilliam