"If the college adjusted the prices ": comparing food secure and insecure college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: We examined how students' food insecurity related to their demographic information, academic experiences, use of food programs, and reflections on food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: 246 NYC undergraduates during the first 9 months of the pandemic. Methods: Students reported on food insecurity (eg, USDA's 10-item AFSSM), household income, impact of food insecurity on academics, GPA, and use of food programs. They wrote two food narratives. Results: 135 (54.88%) participants reported high food security; 51 (20.73%) reported low or very low food security. Compared to high food security students, low and very low-security students were more likely to identify as Black and first-generation immigrants, reported lower household income, more frequently used food programs, had a lower GPA, reported more academic difficulties, and wrote more often about financial and programmatic difficulties related to food. Conclusions: Food-insecure students need greater financial, academic, and programmatic support during public health crises.

An intersectional examination of the impact of COVID-stress and discrimination on college students' resilience and mental health.

Objective: To investigate the impact of COVID-stress and discrimination on mental health among a group of diverse college students using an intersectional framework. Participants: One thousand six hundred seventy-one undergraduate students (Mage = 20.42, SD = 2.74) were recruited from nine college campuses. Methods: Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing mental health symptoms, COVID-stress, and in-school discrimination. Hierarchical regressions and multi-group SEM path analysis were conducted to examine differences across intersectional identities. Results: Female-identifying students reported higher COVID-stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and lower resilience compared to males. COVID-stress and discrimination were highest among certain minoritized student groups. Using an intersectional framework, more COVID-stress and discrimination were associated with increased anxiety for almost all women of color. Unexpectedly, COVID-stress predicted anxiety symptoms for almost all male intersectional groups. Conclusions: Findings reaffirm the intersectional framework and highlight significant disparities in how students experience COVID-stress, discrimination, and mental health outcomes along dimensions of gender and race/ethnicity.