The Burden Mothers Bear: Using the Health Belief Model to Understand How U.S. Mothers' Intersectional Identities Shape Health Decision-Making During COVID-19

The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of color and the burden placed on mothers created a need to better understand how mothers of color made health decisions for their families and communicated these decisions with others during the pandemic. This study investigated how this populations' intersectional identities played a role in their health decision-making processes and overall experiences during COVID-19. Using the health belief model as a sensitizing concept, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with mothers of color across the United States about their lived experiences during the pandemic. Our findings suggest a need for health communicators to address the overburdening of mothers of color during crises, with special attention to self-efficacy messages that aim to reduce this burden and recognizing the role that intersectional identities play in the health decision-making process.