Racial and Ethnic Differences in Emotional Reactions to the Flint Water Crisis among Michigan Women in Communities Outside of Flint

Abstract

Objective To determine whether Black women in Michigan communities outside of Flint were more likely than women in other racial and ethnic groups to report negative emotional reactions to the Flint Water Crisis, an ongoing public health disaster that has been widely attributed to anti-Black structural racism. Methods Data were from a 2020 survey of Michigan women aged 18-45 in communities outside of Flint (N=888). We used logistic regression models to examine racial and ethnic differences in the odds of negative emotional reactions to the Flint Water Crisis. Results Compared with Black women, White women had lower odds of feeling scared (odds ratio [OR]=0.58; 95% CI, 0.40-0.84), hopeless (OR=0.53; 95% CI, 0.38-0.74), tired (OR=0.45; 95% CI, 0.32-0.64), and numb (OR=0.52; 95% CI, 0.35-0.75) when thinking about the water crisis. There were no differences between Black and Hispanic women, whereas women of other races or ethnicities had lower odds than Black women of feeling numb (OR=0.32; 95% CI, 0.14-0.72). Conclusions The Flint Water Crisis was a racialized stressor, with potential implications for mental health inequities among Michigan women who were not directly affected by the crisis.