LGBTQ+ College Students’ Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Social distancing and wearing masks are important public health strategies for slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19; CDC 2020), but late adolescents, with heightened drive for experimentation and social contact (Steinberg, 2008), may be ill-suited for such behaviors. However, even among college-attending late adolescents, these practices may vary by individual and contextual characteristics, such as gender identity, living arrangement, existing state policies, and surrounding political liberalism. Further, because lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or otherwise non-hetereosexual/cisgender (LGBTQ+) Americans are at disproportionate risk of COVID-19 health complications compared to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts (Human Rights Campaign, 2020), it is critical to examine how social distancing and mask-wearing practices relate to individual and contextual characteristics among LGBTQ+ college students in particular.

Methods. To recruit undergraduate students identifying as LGBTQ+, we contacted the LGBTQ+ centers of public four-year universities in the United States that—at the time of recruitment—were still in session and had an enrollment of over 5,000 students. Ultimately, 454 students from 32 different universities completed the online survey (administered via Qualtrics) in April and May 2020. LGBTQ+ participants of diverse races/ethnicities (see Table 1) reported their perceived (i.e., “Are you currently following social distancing practices?”) and actual engagement in social distancing behaviors (i.e., “Staying home except for essential needs,” “Avoiding social gatherings, ” “Keeping at least 6 feet away from others in public,” and “Wearing a face mask in public.”; adapted from Stanford (2020)). Participants also reported on how often they were “going to stores or other businesses,” “getting together with family members outside of the household you live in,” and “ getting together with friends outside of the household you live in?”; Pfeifer, 2020).

Results and Discussion. Overall, despite perceptions that college students are resistant to social distancing (Gowen et al., 2020), LGBTQ+ students in the current study reported high levels of engagement in social distancing behaviors (i.e., reported engagement ranged from 86.6% for wearing face masks to 92.7% for keeping six feet away from others outside their home). We conducted bivariate and multivariate linear regressions to examine differences in the number and frequency of social distancing behaviors by gender identity, living arrangement, existence of a statewide stay at home order, and political liberalism of the student’s current state (see Table 2). Findings revealed variability in the extent of compliance with social distancing practices. In particular, students who identified as men (as compared to students of all other gender identities), who did not live with a parent, whose state did not have a stay at home order in place, and whose state was less politically liberal, visited stores/businesses and friends outside the home more often and engaged in fewer social distancing behaviors than their counterparts. Some of these associations remained in the multivariate analyses. Findings underscore the importance of clear public health messaging related to social distancing that is tailored to target the most vulnerable college students.

Authors

• Samantha E. Lawrence, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Tracy Walters, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alyssa N. Clark, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yuan Zhang, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Veronica Hanna-Walker, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rachael Farina, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eva S. Lefkowitz, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author