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COVID-19 Anti-Chinese Discrimination, Current Pandemic Stress, And Adolescents’ Mental Health

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Abstract

The current study investigated adolescents’ experiences of COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination (i.e., vicariously witnessed, directly experienced), the consequences for mental health, and the moderating role of general pandemic stress. During Summer 2020, 106 adolescents (43% Latino/a/x, 19% Asian American, 13% Black/African American, 26% biracial/multiracial/other; 58% female) participated in a 14-day daily diary study. Path analyses revealed that more experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater anxious mood, depressed mood, and mental health stress, while direct COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination was unrelated to mental health outcomes. The interaction between vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination and general COVID-19 stress was significant for depressed mood; simple slope analyses showed that for adolescents reporting high levels of COVID-19 stress, more frequent experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater severity in depressed mood, but this link was nonsignificant for those reporting low levels of general pandemic stress. Findings from the current study underscore the pernicious effects of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination on the mental health of minoritized youth beyond solely Asian Americans. Additionally, the results evince the need for future pandemic-response efforts to craft public health messaging that avoids the racialization of disease and subsequent stigmatization of ethnic-minority communities.

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Funding

This work was supported by NIH grant K01HD087479 and a grant from the Spencer Foundation to the first author and NIH grant P2CHD042849 to the Population Research Center. Opinions reflect those of the authors and not necessarily those of the granting agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Aprile D. Benner, Francheska Alers Rojas, Su Yeong Kim & Kiera M. Coulter

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32304, USA

    Yang Hou

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Correspondence to Aprile D. Benner.

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The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at Austin, and all participants had both parent consent and student assent for participation.

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Submitted to the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities on March 29, 2023

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Benner, A.D., Rojas, F.A., Kim, S.Y. et al. COVID-19 Anti-Chinese Discrimination, Current Pandemic Stress, And Adolescents’ Mental Health. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01663-w

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