PLoS ONE (Jan 2024)

Asian Pacific Islander Desi American college students and COVID-19-related racial discrimination: Mental health and the moderating role of ethnic identity.

  • Ronna Bañada,
  • Hans Oh,
  • Yuri Jang,
  • Shinyi Wu,
  • Joyce Javier,
  • Jiaming Liang,
  • Lawrence A Palinkas

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309399
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 10
p. e0309399

Abstract

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BackgroundIn 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.MethodsSecondary 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.ResultsThere were significant positive associations between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and symptoms of depression (b = 2.15, p ConclusionsThe 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.