Immigrant Origin and Disability Increase Risk for Anxiety Among Youth During COVID-19: The Role of Unmet Needs for Support in Distance Learning and Family Conflicts

Purpose Shifting to distance learning due to COVID-19 may decrease teacher support and increase family conflicts, potentially increasing anxiety. Nevertheless, there is scarce information on this topic among disability and/or immigrant-origin groups. Thus, we investigated whether these minority groups reported more anxiety than the reference group—Finnish-origin youth without disabilities—and whether unmet needs for support in distance learning and family conflicts mediated differences in anxiety during the pandemic. Differences in these mediators were also investigated. Methods Population-based data of 165,033 youth aged 12 to 29 from the cross-sectional Finnish School Health Promotion study were obtained in 2021 using total population sampling. Logistic regressions with Stata were used to investigate the differences between the target (youth with disabilities, immigrant backgrounds, or both of these characteristics) and reference groups. The Karlson–Holm–Breen method was used to test for mediation. Results The groups with disabilities (odds ratio [OR] = 4.14 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.02–4.27]), immigrant backgrounds (OR = 1.15 [95% CI: 1.06–1.25]), or both of these characteristics (OR = 5.03 [95% CI: 4.59–5.52]) reported anxiety more often than the reference group. The difference between the minority and reference groups in unmet needs in distance learning and family conflicts were significant. Immigrant-origin youth with disabilities were most vulnerable to family conflicts, and the groups with disabilities were more prone to unmet needs. Unmet needs and family conflicts accounted for 28% of the association between immigrant-origin youth without disabilities and anxiety, whereas the mediating percentage was smaller for immigrant-origin youth with disabilities (13%) and Finnish-origin youth with disabilities (11%). Discussion Immigrant-origin youth with disabilities need targeted support to prevent anxiety. Alleviating family conflicts and unmet needs in distance learning during crises could help decrease anxiety. Support for distance learning should be provided to youth with disabilities, regardless of their immigrant backgrounds.