Effect of vicarious discrimination on race-based stress symptoms among Asian American young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. Previous work has established that experiencing racism increases one's dysfunctional anxiety and avoidance actions-key symptoms of race-based stress symptoms. However, the psychological impact of vicarious, or secondhand, discrimination (witnessing racism targeting one's own race group) remains less understood. METHOD: We tested the hypothesis that higher reported vicarious discrimination would be associated with higher levels of race-based stress symptoms reported by Asian American young adults (n = 135) during the pandemic using a cross-sectional analysis of the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES). Starting in April 2020, CARES assessed sociodemographic characteristics and key psychometric scales in young adults through three waves of online surveys. RESULTS: Our multiple regression analysis showed vicarious discrimination significantly predicted race-based stress symptoms, even after controlling for direct discrimination (p < .01). This association remained significant after controlling for age, gender, subjective childhood family social status, and preexisting psychiatric disorders (p < .01). Our results demonstrate that regardless of the effect that direct discrimination might have on race-based stress symptoms, witnessing discrimination against members of one's own racial group is significantly associated with increased race-based stress symptoms (b = 2.68, p < .01). Social media was the most common source of vicarious discrimination, with one out of three participants in our sample reporting nearly daily exposure. CONCLUSION: Providers should intentionally create a space within the therapeutic setting to discuss the effects of vicarious discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

COVID-19-related direct and vicarious racial discrimination: Associations with psychological distress among U.S. college students.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a myriad of racist incidents targeting minorities in the U.S. Young adults are susceptible to direct and vicarious (indirect) pandemic-related racial discrimination. We sought to examine associations between both types of discrimination experiences and psychological distress among college students across different racial groups. METHODS: We analyzed self-reported data from 64,041 undergraduate students from the Spring 2021 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment. Logistic regression examined odds of severe distress based on self-reported exposure to direct and vicarious racial discrimination. RESULTS: Even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and prior mental health diagnoses, there was a significant association between direct discrimination and distress among Asian (AOR: 1.3, p < 0.001), Hispanic (AOR: 1.6, p < 0.001), and Multiracial (AOR: 1.4, p < 0.001) students. Vicarious discrimination was significantly associated with distress among White (AOR: 1.4, p < 0.001), Asian (AOR: 1.4, p < 0.001), Hispanic (AOR: 1.5, p < 0.001), and Multiracial (AOR: 1.3, p < 0.001) students. Further analysis considering distress as a continuous measure revealed a significant association between vicarious discrimination and distress for Black participants (ß = 0.9, p < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: Self-reported variables are susceptible to recall bias. Minority racial group analyses may be underpowered. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal an overall link between both direct and vicarious racial discrimination and distress across several racial groups. Further studies should examine effective mental health interventions and anti-racism initiatives to support students who have experienced direct or vicarious discrimination due to COVID-19.

Vicarious racism, ethnic/racial identity, and sleep among Asian Americans.

OBJECTIVES: Vicarious racism-witnessing or hearing about other individuals of one's ethnic/racial group being the target of racism-has been salient among Asian Americans during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. There is emerging evidence that such experiences adversely impact several health-related outcomes, including sleep. The present study examines associations between vicarious racism and subjective sleep duration and quality, and the potential moderating role of ethnic/racial identity (ERI). METHOD: Multivariable regression models assessed the association between vicarious racism, private regard, and centrality on self-reported sleep disturbance and duration. The sample consisted of an online sample of 600 Asian American adults (Mage = 38.55, SDage = 17.11; 65.17% female; 60% ≥ Bachelor's degree) recruited from May to June 2020. RESULTS: Vicarious racism was associated with compromised sleep quality and duration, including after adjustment for sociodemographic variables that have been linked to sleep. Private regard toward one's own ethnic/racial group and centrality of ethnicity/race to self-identity buffered the association between vicarious racism and sleep quality and duration. Adverse effects of high vicarious racism on sleep quality and duration were lessened among respondents reporting high levels of ERI private regard and centrality. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study extend research on racism and sleep by examining vicarious racism, an understudied facet of racism, and by focusing specifically on Asian Americans and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research and practice should consider expanding research on discrimination to include a broader range of unjust experiences. Vicarious racism contributes to health hazards experienced by Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Depression, Anxiety, and Alcohol Use Among LGBTQ+ People During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives. To describe disparities in depression, anxiety, and problem drinking by sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and gender identity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. Data were collected May 21 to July 15, 2020, from 3245 adults living in 5 major US metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; and Los Angeles, California). Participants were characterized as cisgender straight or LGBTQ+ (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and men who have sex with men, and women who have sex with women not identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender). Results. Cisgender straight participants had the lowest levels of depression, anxiety, and problem drinking compared with all other sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and gender identity groups, and, in general, LGBTQ+ participants were more likely to report that these health problems were "more than usual" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions. LGBTQ+ communities experienced worse mental health and problem drinking than their cisgender straight counterparts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should assess the impact of the pandemic on health inequities. Policymakers should consider resources to support LGBTQ+ mental health and substance use prevention in COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Vulnerability and Resilience: Use and Misuse of These Terms in the Public Health Discourse

What are the hidden assumptions behind labeling a population as "vulnerable," and what are subsequent implications for targets for intervention? [...]what are the potential public health pitfalls, particularly when referring to racial/ethnic groups experiencing health inequities as "vulnerable communities," commonly in opposition to "resilient" (often in terms of "building resiliency")? [...]health inequities occurring along lines of race and ethnicity, class and socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, immigration and documentation status, or place of residence (rural vs urban) have been well documented.4 However, labeling some groups as "vulnerable" may also lead to internalization of stereotypes among group members, which may unintentionally lead to increased disease risk through fatalism and diminished selfefficacy, and as such could be detrimental to health equity.5 For instance, stigmatizing public health messages may have resulted in beliefs about the inevitability of HIV infection, overestimation of risk, and fear among gay men in the United States, particularly during the 1990s, leading to internalized homophobia, worse mental health, and increased risk-taking.6 Another consequence of vulnerability labeling is masking health inequities in communities that are not considered "vulnerable," making it difficult for those groups to advocate for health protective resources. [...]the greater prevalence of underlying health conditions among non-Whites likely has contributed to increased biological susceptibility to severe disease, contributing to greater hospitalization risk.11 These existing racial/ethnic inequities in health represent population-level socially induced biological susceptibility created by the unjust distribution of hazards inimical to health versus health-protective factors occurring systematically along racial/ethnic lines (social determinants of health, including structural and personally mediated racism).12 For example, hazardous air pollution, which is worse in areas with greater percentages of Black or African American residents,10 increases the population-level risk of chronic diseases that have been shown to result in greater susceptibility to severe COVID-19.13 Racism is a unique source of threat, and a social toxin that can also more directly increase biological susceptibility. Research shows that racism compromises biological systems engaged in the stress response;repeated experiences of racism accumulate and result in "weathering," or premature physiological deterioration caused by the body being continually challenged.14 Racism has been shown to lead to accelerated aging at the cellular level, as indicated by the length of telomeres-repetitive sequences of DNA capping the ends of chromosomes that generallyshorten with age.14Telomere length is considered to be a marker of replicative history and cumulative biological "wear and tear";as an indicator of systemic aging, it has been linked to increased disease susceptibility and severity for a range of aging-related diseases, as well as mortality.14 Other research has shown that persistent exposure to racism is associated with greater allostatic load, a multisystem metric of biological dysregulation, as well as DNA methylation patterns reflective of accelerated epigenetic aging.14These studies indicate that racism becomes biologically embedded and thus plays a profound role in the creation of susceptibility.

Vicarious Racism and Vigilance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mental Health Implications Among Asian and Black Americans.

OBJECTIVES: Experiences of vicarious racism-hearing about racism directed toward one's racial group or racist acts committed against other racial group members-and vigilance about racial discrimination have been salient during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined vicarious racism and vigilance in relation to symptoms of depression and anxiety among Asian and Black Americans. METHODS: We used data from a cross-sectional study of 604 Asian American and 844 Black American adults aged ≥18 in the United States recruited from 5 US cities from May 21 through July 15, 2020. Multivariable linear regression models examined levels of depression and anxiety by self-reported vicarious racism and vigilance. RESULTS: Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, among both Asian and Black Americans, greater self-reported vicarious racism was associated with more symptoms of depression (Asian: ß = 1.92 [95% CI, 0.97-2.87]; Black: ß = 1.72 [95% CI, 0.95-2.49]) and anxiety (Asian: ß = 2.40 [95% CI, 1.48-3.32]; Black: ß = 1.98 [95% CI, 1.17-2.78]). Vigilance was also positively related to symptoms of depression (Asian: ß = 1.54 [95% CI, 0.58-2.50]; Black: ß = 0.90 [95% CI, 0.12-1.67]) and anxiety (Asian: ß = 1.98 [95% CI, 1.05-2.91]; Black: ß = 1.64 [95% CI, 0.82-2.45]). CONCLUSIONS: Mental health problems are a pressing concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our study suggest that heightened racist sentiment, harassment, and violence against Asian and Black Americans contribute to increased risk of depression and anxiety via vicarious racism and vigilance. Public health efforts during this period should address endemic racism as well as COVID-19.

Exploring U.S. Shifts in Anti-Asian Sentiment with the Emergence of COVID-19.

Background: Anecdotal reports suggest a rise in anti-Asian racial attitudes and discrimination in response to COVID-19. Racism can have significant social, economic, and health impacts, but there has been little systematic investigation of increases in anti-Asian prejudice. Methods: We utilized Twitter's Streaming Application Programming Interface (API) to collect 3,377,295 U.S. race-related tweets from November 2019-June 2020. Sentiment analysis was performed using support vector machine (SVM), a supervised machine learning model. Accuracy for identifying negative sentiments, comparing the machine learning model to manually labeled tweets was 91%. We investigated changes in racial sentiment before and following the emergence of COVID-19. Results: The proportion of negative tweets referencing Asians increased by 68.4% (from 9.79% in November to 16.49% in March). In contrast, the proportion of negative tweets referencing other racial/ethnic minorities (Blacks and Latinx) remained relatively stable during this time period, declining less than 1% for tweets referencing Blacks and increasing by 2% for tweets referencing Latinx. Common themes that emerged during the content analysis of a random subsample of 3300 tweets included: racism and blame (20%), anti-racism (20%), and daily life impact (27%). Conclusion: Social media data can be used to provide timely information to investigate shifts in area-level racial sentiment.

Exploring U.S. Shifts in Anti-Asian Sentiment with the Emergence of COVID-19

Background: Anecdotal reports suggest a rise in anti-Asian racial attitudes and discrimination in response to COVID-19. Racism can have significant social, economic, and health impacts, but there has been little systematic investigation of increases in anti-Asian prejudice. Methods: We utilized Twitter"s Streaming Application Programming Interface (API) to collect 3,377,295 U.S. race-related tweets from November 2019-June 2020. Sentiment analysis was performed using support vector machine (SVM), a supervised machine learning model. Accuracy for identifying negative sentiments, comparing the machine learning model to manually labeled tweets was 91%. We investigated changes in racial sentiment before and following the emergence of COVID-19. Results: The proportion of negative tweets referencing Asians increased by 68.4% (from 9.79% in November to 16.49% in March). In contrast, the proportion of negative tweets referencing other racial/ethnic minorities (Blacks and Latinx) remained relatively stable during this time period, declining less than 1% for tweets referencing Blacks and increasing by 2% for tweets referencing Latinx. Common themes that emerged during the content analysis of a random subsample of 3300 tweets included: racism and blame (20%), anti-racism (20%), and daily life impact (27%). Conclusion: Social media data can be used to provide timely information to investigate shifts in area-level racial sentiment.

After "The China Virus" Went Viral: Racially Charged Coronavirus Coverage and Trends in Bias Against Asian Americans.

On March 8, 2020, there was a 650% increase in Twitter retweets using the term "Chinese virus" and related terms. On March 9, there was an 800% increase in the use of these terms in conservative news media articles. Using data from non-Asian respondents of the Project Implicit "Asian Implicit Association Test" from 2007-2020 (n = 339,063), we sought to ascertain if this change in media tone increased bias against Asian Americans. Local polynomial regression and interrupted time-series analyses revealed that Implicit Americanness Bias-or the subconscious belief that European American individuals are more "American" than Asian American individuals-declined steadily from 2007 through early 2020 but reversed trend and began to increase on March 8, following the increase in stigmatizing language in conservative media outlets. The trend reversal in bias was more pronounced among conservative individuals. This research provides evidence that the use of stigmatizing language increased subconscious beliefs that Asian Americans are "perpetual foreigners." Given research that perpetual foreigner bias can beget discriminatory behavior and that experiencing discrimination is associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes, this research sounds an alarm about the effects of stigmatizing media on the health and welfare of Asian Americans.