Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 16;19(10):e0309399. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309399. eCollection 2024.
In 2020, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) triggered the latest wave of anti-Asian discrimination. During the first year of the pandemic, symptoms of depression and anxiety increased seven-fold within Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) communities. Among this population, APIDA college students were at particularly high risk for mental health challenges due to COVID-19-related racial discrimination. This study examined the association between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and the mental health of APIDA college students, conceptualizing ethnic identity as a moderator in the association.
Secondary analysis was conducted on data from 2,559 APIDA college students aged 18 to 29 who participated in the Fall and Winter/Spring Cohorts of the 2020-2021 Healthy Minds Study (HMS), a non-probability web-based survey administered to students in higher education in the United States. Descriptive statistics, comparative analysis (e.g., Chi-square and t-test), and multivariable linear regression were conducted using STATA 17.1 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX). Survey weights were applied in all analyses.
There were significant positive associations between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and symptoms of depression (b = 2.15, p < 0.001) and anxiety (b = 1.81, p < 0.001) among the overall sample. Furthermore, a greater sense of ethnic identity was associated with lower symptoms of depression (b = -0.15, p< 0.001) among the overall sample. Finally, ethnic identity buffered the association between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and symptoms of anxiety among East Asian students and symptoms of both depression and anxiety among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students. In contrast, ethnic identity intensified the association between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and symptoms of depression among Filipino students.
The research found that COVID-19-related racial discrimination was associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety among the full sample of APIDA college students during the first year of the pandemic. Additionally, higher levels of ethnic identity were associated with decreased depression among the entire group. The striking results on the moderating role of ethnic identity among subgroups call for further research on the ethnic identity development of APIDA college students, to help mitigate the effects of racial discrimination within a variety of systemic, complex, and dynamic sociocultural contexts.
2020 年，冠状病毒病（COVID-19）引发了最新一波反亚裔歧视浪潮。在大流行的第一年，亚太裔美国原住民（APIDA）社区的抑郁和焦虑症状增加了七倍。在这一人群中，亚太裔美国大学生由于与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视而面临特别高的心理健康挑战风险。本研究考察了与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视与亚太裔美国大学生心理健康之间的关联，将族裔认同概念化为关联的调节因素。
对 2559 名年龄在 18 至 29 岁的参加 2020-2021 年秋季和冬季/春季健康思想研究（HMS）的亚太裔美国大学生进行了二次分析，该研究是一项针对美国高等教育学生的非概率网络调查。使用 STATA 17.1（StataCorp LLC，College Station，TX）进行描述性统计、比较分析（例如，卡方和 t 检验）和多变量线性回归。在所有分析中都应用了调查权重。
在整个样本中，与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视与抑郁症状（b=2.15，p<0.001）和焦虑症状（b=1.81，p<0.001）呈显著正相关。此外，在整个样本中，更强的族裔认同与抑郁症状（b=-0.15，p<0.001）呈负相关。最后，族裔认同缓冲了与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视与东亚学生焦虑症状以及夏威夷原住民和太平洋岛民学生抑郁和焦虑症状之间的关联。相比之下，族裔认同加剧了与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视与菲律宾学生抑郁症状之间的关联。
研究发现，在大流行的第一年，与 COVID-19 相关的种族歧视与亚太裔美国大学生的抑郁和焦虑症状增加有关。此外，较高的族裔认同与整个群体的抑郁症状减少有关。在亚群中发现的族裔认同的调节作用的惊人结果呼吁进一步研究亚太裔美国大学生的族裔认同发展，以帮助减轻各种系统性、复杂和动态社会文化背景下的种族歧视的影响。
