Table 2.
Themes and representative quotes regarding perceived impact of contracting COVID-19 on participants' lives (n = 752 participants)
| Category | Themesa | Quote | Participant characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Significant or moderate impact (n = 679, 90.3%) | Self-isolation (n = 371, 54.6%) | …if I did contract the virus I would be unable to see my family members until I fully recovered. This would be really challenging emotionally for me, and for them | 23, female, white, Midwest |
| I would have to self-isolate as I cannot risk giving it to my at-risk loved ones | 19, male, American Indian, South | ||
| Impact on work (n = 135, 19.9%) | It would prevent me from working which is what my life consists of so it would be negative impact | 19, male, white, Northeast | |
| It would upend pretty much everything, even just by forcing me to take time off work | 21, transgender, white, West | ||
| Impact on education (n = 91, 13.4%) | It would be rough as a college student having to self-isolate at home and not be able to actually attend class and participate in study groups | 19, male, white, West | |
| I wouldn't be able to do school work or worry about college. I would be scared cuz there's no cure | 16, female, black, South | ||
| Impact on personal and family finances (n = 63, 9.3%) | I'd have to stay home from work and so would my parents. I wouldn't mind but they would be stressed out about money | 18, female, black, Northeast | |
| I would not have the money to afford health care | 20, male, white, Midwest | ||
| Physical health consequences (n = 184, 27.1%) | Well. I could die, it could cause irreparable damage to my lungs or maybe some other important organ in my body… | 20, transgender, white, Midwest | |
| Since I'm young hopefully not much but there's a risk I'll get long lasting effects | 17, male, American Indian/Hispanic, West | ||
| Mental health consequences (n = 69, 10.2%) | I would become very depressed | 17, female, black, South | |
| I would need to quarantine for 2 weeks, which would negatively impact my mental health due to loneliness | 20, male, white, South | ||
| High-risk, including self or family (n = 94, 13.8%) | I could experience complications because I have a congenital heart disease. I would also not be able to see my friends or go to work… | 16, female, white, Northeast | |
| I have asthma, so it could probably kill me. My mother also has asthma and a number of other illnesses that could easily contribute to it being fatal to her as well if I were to spread it to her. Quite frankly, this virus could ruin my family's life | 21, nonbinary, black, Midwest | ||
| Little or no impact (n = 50, 6.6%) | Illness would not be serious (n = 19, 38.0%) | I think it would be like a cold and I'd stay home get better and move on like the flu | 16, female, Hispanic white, South |
| I'm thinking that I will most likely be asymptomatic | 23, male, white, Midwest | ||
| Already staying home and taking precautions (n = 9, 18.0%) | It wouldn't really [impact me]. I'll probably be doing the same thing I'm doing now | 16, female, black, South | |
| Nothing would change, I stay home 99% of the time anyway | 24, male, Asian, Midwest |
a
Percentages refer to percentage of participants in the category.