Relationship Between Interpretation Bias, Racial or Ethnic Identity, and COVID-19 Anxiety

Background and Objectives: Anxiety symptoms have increased in prevalence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including anxiety related specifically to COVID-19. It is important to determine correlates of COVID-19 anxiety to understand both risk factors common to anxiety in general (e.g., negative interpretation bias) and specific to risks tied to the pandemic (e.g., racial or ethnic identity, given greater risk for marginalized identities of contracting and dying from COVID-19). Methods: Using baseline data from a web-based clinical trial for adults high in trait anxiety (N = 1,514), we examined whether interpretation bias, racial or ethnic identity, and their interaction were associated with COVID-19 anxiety. Results: As hypothesized (https://osf.io/tpmnx), higher negative interpretation bias was associated with significantly higher COVID-19 anxiety, and individuals who identify as Black (vs. White) reported significantly higher COVID-19 anxiety. Unexpectedly, higher positive bias was not significantly associated with lower COVID-19 anxiety, and individuals who identify as Hispanic/Latinx (vs. not) did not report significantly higher COVID-19 anxiety. The interpretation-by-identity interaction was nonsignificant. Conclusions: These findings suggest that individuals who interpret ambiguous situations as negative and individuals who identify as Black tend to experience higher levels of COVID-19 anxiety. Future work should examine what specific systemic inequities work in tandem with race to correlate with COVID-19 anxiety.