The Impact of COVID-19-Associated Discrimination on Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Asian American Adolescents

Abstract

Abstract. Given the potential adverse impact of COVID-19-associated discrimination (CAD) targeting Asian Americans, we investigated the relationship between online and in-person CAD and mental health outcomes in a sample of East and Southeast Asian American (ESEAA) high school students ( n = 114). The study findings revealed that students with experiences of CAD in online and offline settings reported higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms above and beyond the traumatic events and lifetime discrimination they endured in life. These results support the need and urgency to attend to the unique challenges in the ESEAA students related to CAD and their mental health outcomes. We provided implications for practice when working with this population and discussed study limitations and recommendations for future research.

International Psychology and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Based on a sample of East and Southeast Asian American high school students, in the second article, Ermis-Demirtas et al (2022) investigated the relationship between mental health outcomes and online and in-person COVID-19–associated discrimination. The results indicated that students with experiences of online and offline discrimination reported greater levels of symptoms of depression and anxiety beyond the traumatic events and other discrimination they had faced in their lives.…”

The mental health of Asian American adolescents and young adults amid the rise of anti-Asian racism

“…In addition to experiencing many of their formative schooling years online, due to pandemic safety precautions, Asian American adolescents and young adults' intentional avoidance of public spaces for fear of racial violence can come at the cost of sustaining social connection to support systems and having a sense of belonging in their neighborhoods, all of which may have long-term mental health consequences across the life course (45). Specifically, these experiences of isolation and anti-Asian racism may contribute to Asian American adolescents' developmental trajectory, which may be in more flux than young adults, such that it increases fear and mistrust of others, promoting intergroup hostility, concealing one's culture, and hinder positive identity development (12,(16)(17)(18). Furthermore, our results on depression severity by gender, highlight and endorse the gendered disparities in mental health and experiences of violence (46).…”

“…Adolescence is a stage of rapid physical, social, and brain development; thus, AA adolescents and young adults may be especially vulnerable to increased depressive symptoms due to their exposure to multiple stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, such as increased social isolation, family financial strain, and increased social media use. They also feared for their own safety as they became direct targets of anti-Asian hate crimes (12,13).…”

“…Additionally, the health and well-being of adolescents (age [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] are distinctive from young adults (age 18-29), and therefore, the impacts of these stressors may vary between these two age groups. Despite the fragmented incidence data and being labeled as a "model-minority", AA adolescents and young adults are still shown to be equally as vulnerable to developing mental health disorders as other racial/ethnic groups (14).…”

The racialized landscape of COVID-19:Reverberations for minority adolescents and families in the U.S.

“…Within the study sample, Asian and Black adolescents endorsed the highest levels of perceived racism and/or worrying about confronting racism over the pandemic [ 36 ]. Additional studies with Asian adolescent samples demonstrated associations between discrimination exposure during the pandemic and poor mental health (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms) [ 37 , 38 ].…”