Asians and Asian Americans' Experiences of Racial Discrimination During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts on Health Outcomes and the Buffering Role of Social Support

Reports of racially discriminatory behaviors toward Asians in the United States have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study examined self-reported racial discrimination toward Asians and Asian Americans living in the United States in relation to four mental and physical health outcomes: anxiety, depressive, and physical symptoms and sleep difficulties. The moderating role of social support was also examined. In addition, participants were asked to describe a specific instance of discrimination that had happened during the pandemic. Four hundred ten participants (M-age = 26.5 years, SD = 7.8; 47% female) responded via online survey from all across from the country. Nearly 30% reported an increase in discrimination since the pandemic, and over 40% reported an increase in anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulties. The four multiple regressions were each significant, with higher levels of discrimination and lower levels of social support predicting more health problems for each outcome. Social support significantly buffered the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms and marginally buffered the effect on physical symptoms. Conventional content analysis was used to identify multiple themes within the three broad categories of personal experiences with discrimination, experiences with a stigmatizing anti-Asian racist culture, and prevention of exposure to discrimination. Results indicate that Asians have experienced elevated racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, including hate crimes, microaggressions, and vicarious discrimination, and these experiences are associated with poorer self-reported mental and physical health.