journal_vol49no3 - 29

Investigating the Mental Health of Housing Staff
Full-time hall directors reported the highest impact of the pandemic and
job duties on their mental health. . . . These results are unsurprising, as it is
more likely that full-time hall directors are on the frontlines, interacting with
students more closely, as well as having the direct responsibility and consequent
stress of implementing any new guidelines decided on by SHOs.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The results of this study shed some light on the state of mental health in university
housing staff over the course of the pandemic. Most strikingly, the vast majority
(81.2%) of university housing staff in this study scored below a 76 on the MHI-5 assessment,
indicating that 177 cases met criteria that could match a diagnosis for common
mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. It is evident that the mental
health of our housing professionals-regardless of race, gender, age, housing function,
level of education, and university type-has been greatly impacted during the
pandemic. Institutions, and their respective housing departments in particular, need
to assess the various types of institutional and departmental support provided to their
staff to ensure their well-being. Furthermore, housing staff should be utilized as a
source for feedback to determine if they believe that the support from their department
or institution was adequate.
The percentage of males and females who scored below 76 was identical, indicating
that gender did not make a difference in regards to mental health issues during the
pandemic, even though males reported feeling statistically significantly more calm and
peaceful during the pandemic than did females, with a large effect size. Although the
reasons for this finding may be unclear, a possible explanation could be that males may
not have been impacted as greatly by social isolation as were their female counterparts.
Social connectedness can vary more by gender than any other demographic characteristic,
with women in general having larger social networks and support systems than do
men (Shye et al., 1995). A more recent study by Borland and colleagues (2019) revealed
that females found same-sex social interactions to be more rewarding than did males.
Caucasian and African American respondents reported very similar percentages
of those scoring below a 76 (82.7% and 81.8% respectively), with 61.5% of Hispanic
respondents scoring below a 76. One-way ANOVA results indicated a statistically significant
difference between Caucasian and Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish respondents
with a small effect size. This finding is surprising as Paulsen (2020) asserted that the
Hispanic population is at higher risk for mental health issues related to COVID-19 due
to longstanding inequities in this country's structures and systems. Similarly, the fact
that Caucasian and African American respondents reported similar scoring in regards
to MHI-5 was also surprising, given that all people of color were more at risk of being
affected by COVID-19, with African American and Hispanic people twice as likely to
be hospitalized than non-Hispanic White people due to systemic issues such as racism,
underlying medical conditions, the nature of their work, location, and access to
26 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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