Question reference: S5W-35574
- Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 25 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it is collecting regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the mental health of BAME people.
Answer
Data on the mental health of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in Scotland is collected in the Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study. This surveys a representative sample of adults in Scotland about a range of mental health and wellbeing outcomes, at five points over a twelve month period. The first report found that respondents who identified as BAME reported worse mental health indicators than white respondents on a number of measures. However, the sample of BAME respondents is quite small, so the findings need to be treated with caution.
The Scottish Government also commissioned a second 'Lockdown Lowdown' survey of young people in Scotland, aged 11 to 26, to find out how the pandemic was impacting on them. The report analysed findings from BAME respondents, but found limited differences in mental health by ethnicity.
The Scottish Government's Coronavirus Mental Health Research Advisory Group continues to monitor emerging data and evidence on the mental health impacts of the pandemic on different groups