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Anti-Asian discrimination and the Asian-white mental health gap during COVID-19 Wu, Cary; Qian, Yue; Wilkes, Rima

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread mental health issues. In this article, we consider how, due to a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes across the country, Asians might face a disproportionate mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing data from the University of Southern California’s Center for Economic and Social Research Understanding Coronavirus in America survey, we report several major findings. First, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians (Asian Americans in particular) have experienced higher levels of mental disorders than whites. Second, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants are about twice as likely as whites to report having encountered instances of COVID-19-related acute discrimination. Third, experiences of COVID-19-associated discrimination have led to increased mental disorders for all Americans. Finally, COVID-19-related acute discrimination partially explains the disproportionate mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Asians. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of tackling hate, violence, and discrimination so as to address the disproportionate mental health impatcs of COVID-19 on minority populations.

Item Metadata

Title
Anti-Asian discrimination and the Asian-white mental health gap during COVID-19
Creator
Wu, Cary; Qian, Yue; Wilkes, Rima
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Date Issued
2020-12-14
Description
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread mental health issues. In this article, we consider how, due to a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes across the country, Asians might face a disproportionate mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing data from the University of Southern California’s Center for Economic and Social Research Understanding Coronavirus in America survey, we report several major findings. First, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians (Asian Americans in particular) have experienced higher levels of mental disorders than whites. Second, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants are about twice as likely as whites to report having encountered instances of COVID-19-related acute discrimination. Third, experiences of COVID-19-associated discrimination have led to increased mental disorders for all Americans. Finally, COVID-19-related acute discrimination partially explains the disproportionate mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Asians. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of tackling hate, violence, and discrimination so as to address the disproportionate mental health impatcs of COVID-19 on minority populations.
Subject
COVID-19; Mental health; Anti-Asian discrimination; Asians; Temporal analysis; Understanding Coronavirus in America survey
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2023-02-23
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0427260
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83846
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Non UBC; Sociology, Department of
Citation
Cary Wu, Yue Qian & Rima Wilkes (2020) Anti-Asian discrimination and the Asian-white mental health gap during COVID-19, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44:5, 819-835.
Publisher DOI
10.1080/01419870.2020.1851739
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International