The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Against Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Sasha Zhou; Rachel Banawa; Hans Oh

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.708426

Frontiers in Psychiatry (Nov 2021)

The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Against Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Sasha Zhou,
Rachel Banawa,
Hans Oh

Affiliations

Sasha Zhou: Department of Public Health, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
Rachel Banawa: Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Hans Oh: Suzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.708426
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12

Abstract

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Hate crimes against Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have surged in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic to alarming new levels. We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study, and found that COVID-19 related racial/ethnic discrimination was associated with greater odds of having depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury, binge drinking, and suicidal ideation among AAPI university students (N = 1,697). Findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated discrimination, which has been linked to mental health problems, calling for more preventive interventions to address the AAPI population, especially given their low rates of formal treatment utilization.

Published in Frontiers in Psychiatry

ISSN: 1664-0640 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry: Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system: Psychiatry
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry

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