Prevalence of Depression Symptoms Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Two Asian American Ethnic Groups

Lozano, Paula; Rueger, Sandra Yu; Lam, Helen; Louie, Naomi T; Southworth, Alia; Maene, Chieko; Mo, Yicklun; Randal, Fornessa; Kim, Karen

doi:10.1007/s10903-021-01287-4

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Similarly, a study conducted using the patient health questionnaire eight-item depression scale (PHQ-8) found that, during the pandemic, the prevalence of depression among the South Asians was three times higher than among the Chinese Americans (38% vs. 13%). 21 In addition, another study found that Vietnamese respondents were most vulnerable to mental distress. 22 These increases in mental health impacts can be attributed to stress due to migration and acculturation, somatization, stigmas surrounding mental health and use of mental health services, underrepresentation among the mental health care providers, lack of culturally informed interventions and social isolation, and increased racial discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

Tiwari

Zhang

2022

Health Equity

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Purpose: This study aims to explore the differences in mental health status among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data from the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study were used to explore the psychological distress of 2672 adults, using the Standard Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Results: We observed that among Asian American subgroups, South Asian Americans had significantly higher odds of experiencing psychological distress than non-Hispanic White Americans (odds ratio = 1.82, 95% confidence interval = 1.00–3.31), after controlling for covariates. Conclusion: The study identified differences in mental health status among Asian American subgroups. We recommend the implementation of culturally appropriate interventions to help Asian Americans cope with mental health challenges.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

Tiwari

Zhang

2022

Health Equity

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“…Multiple studies have demonstrated that racial-ethnic harassment and discrimination is linked to depression, reduced self-esteem, anger, powerlessness, and other negative psychological effects (Lozano et al, 2021; Sanchez et al, 2018). While all the articles included in the present study described the psychological impact of harassment and violence, we have included discussion of 10 studies that specifically investigated health impacts of anti-Asian harassment, vandalism, and interpersonal violence on the physical and mental health of Asian Americans.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The negative health effects of anti-Asian stigma in the U.S. during COVID-19.

Bresnahan¹,

Zhu²,

Hooper³

et al. 2023

Stigma and Health

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This study provided a systemic review of the content of 50 behavioral and social science studies investigating enactment and outcomes of anti-Asian stigma related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) published in the final quarter of 2020 and during 2021. Based on a systematic search of several databases in December of 2021, 500 studies describing the impact of COVID-related stigma on Asian Americans were identified. From this group, 50 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were analyzed focusing on health and social consequences of stigma. The studies were described by five stigma themes: the enactment of stigma, health consequences of stigma, stigma in the social media, Asian American stigma in education, and policy and political consequences of anti-Asian stigma. The studies appeared in a wide range of scholarly journals using several methodologies. While some studies exclusively focused on health impacts of stigma, all considered how Asian Americans have been scapegoated for COVID-19. Spread of blame and digital stigma on the social media has been particularly damaging to psychological well-being. Discussion of these studies provided an informative systemic overview for how scholars from various disciplines have investigated the antecedents and possible mechanisms leading to anti-Asian hate. This study serves as a baseline for other scholars who want to build on this body of research in future studies as Omicron and other potential future variants of COVID unfold.

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“…Our analysis suggested that South and Southeast Asian Americans reported higher levels of psychological distress than did East Asian Americans, a pattern that was consistent with some but not all previous studies. For example, in an analysis of survey data collected from Chinese American and South Asian American residents of Chicago ( 29 ), South Asian Americans reported significantly more depressive symptoms than did Chinese Americans during COVID-19. Another study of Asian Canadians had also found that mental health symptoms increased more among South Asian Canadians (along with Black and Muslim Canadians) compared to East Asian, Southeast Asian, and White Canadians ( 61 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study of 636 Chinese and South Asian American adults residing in Chicago found that depressive symptoms were significantly higher among those who were surveyed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than those who were surveyed prior to the start of the pandemic. Specifically, they found that South Asian American, men, and younger adults surveyed after the start of the pandemic reported more depressive symptoms compared to East Asian Americans, women, and older adults ( 29 ). Hyunh et al ( 26 ) found in their sample of 380 East and Southeast Asian American adults in Ohio that their respondents reported an increase in direct and indirect racial discrimination during the pandemic compared to the time before the pandemic, and racial discrimination during the pandemic was associated with higher anxiety and depression ( 26 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disaggregating the data: Diversity of COVID-19 stressors, discrimination, and mental health among Asian American communities

Okazaki

Lee²,

Prasai³

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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Much of the public discourse as well as research regarding the negative impact of COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination has been conducted at the broad racial group level, yet data aggregation masks critical points of diversity among Asian Americans. We conducted an online survey of 620 Asian American adults in December 2020 and examined whether there were any demographic differences–including by ethnic subgroup and Chinese street race (being Chinese or being mistaken as Chinese)–in their experiences of COVID-19-related stress, direct and vicarious discrimination, and psychological outcomes. Our analyses found that younger age was correlated with higher reports of pandemic stress, discrimination, distress, and worry. Female and U.S.-born participants reported higher levels of pandemic stress and vicarious discrimination, but there were no gender or nativity differences in levels of direct discrimination. Being uninsured was also related to higher levels of pandemic stress, discrimination, and distress. East Asian Americans reported significantly lower frequencies of direct anti-Asian discrimination than did South Asian or Southeast Asian Americans, but the ethnic subgroups did not differ in their reports of vicarious discrimination. Of note, Chinese street race was not associated with either direct or vicarious discrimination. Separate hierarchical regression analyses for East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian participants revealed that, regardless of ethnicity, racial discrimination significantly contributed to psychological distress and worry beyond the effects of pandemic stress. However, the three groups varied in the demographic indicators and COVID-19 stressors that were associated with psychological outcomes. Pandemic stress was more strongly associated with negative outcomes among South Asian Americans than East Asian and Southeast Asian Americans, and neither direct nor vicarious discrimination were associated with mental health among South Asian Americans. Direct discrimination, compared to vicarious discrimination, was a particularly robust predictor of both distress and worry among East Asian Americans. For Southeast Asian Americans, direct discrimination significantly predicted higher levels of distress, whereas vicarious discrimination predicted higher levels of worry. Vicarious discrimination was not significantly related to distress across ethnic subgroups. Results suggest that practitioners and policy makers would benefit from attending to these within-group differences in Asian Americans' experiences during the pandemic.

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Prevalence of Depression Symptoms Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Two Asian American Ethnic Groups

Cited by 19 publications

References 31 publications

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

The negative health effects of anti-Asian stigma in the U.S. during COVID-19.

Disaggregating the data: Diversity of COVID-19 stressors, discrimination, and mental health among Asian American communities

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