Major Depression and Hazardous Alcohol Use in a Spanish Language Survey of Leisure and Hospitality Industry Workers

Depression and risky alcohol use are common in vulnerable populations, such as leisure and hospitality workers. While Hispanic workers are overrepresented in the hospitality industry, empirical research on these health burdens among Hispanic workers is limited, particularly workers who prefer to speak Spanish. Given the devastating unemployment following the COVID-19 lockdown, data on health burdens among hospitality industry workers is especially important.

To assess the impact of pandemic-related unemployment within vulnerable populations, we examined current major depression (MDD) and recent binge drinking among leisure and hospitality workers who completed a survey in Spanish (N = 373). We recruited participants from a large Nevada hospitality labor union and included validated measures of depression and binge drinking in our survey.

Current MDD was significantly higher among unemployed (59.6%, 95%CI, 46.9-72.4) versus currently employed (24.1%, 95%CI, 19.3-28.8) participants. Further, overall prevalence of MDD (29.5%, 95%CI, 25.1-34.3) and binge drinking (22.8%, 95%CI, 18.8, 27.3) were higher in our sample than the rates seen in concurrent statewide assessments.

Given the clinically important elevations in depression and hazardous drinking found in our study, greater attention to leisure and hospitality workers is warranted, especially workers of color and workers whose preferred language is not English.