ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to heightened discrimination and xenophobia against Asian Americans in the United States. Mainstream media have reported that East Asian individuals are increasingly fearful of becoming victims of anti-Asian discrimination. However, few studies have examined the fear of experiencing discrimination, especially among youths and young adults. This study examined the extent to which East Asian first-year college students in the United States have experienced the fear of anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic, its impact on anxiety and depressive symptoms, and whether emotion regulation strategies moderated the relationship between the fear of discrimination and psychological distress. Participants completed a cross-sectional online survey (n = 139; Mage = 17.90; SD = 0.62; 64% female) and reported high levels of fears, with 40.3% and 29.5% of the participants endorsing "quite a bit" or "extremely" on worries about being harassed or not feeling physically safe due to COVID-19, respectively. Female students endorsed higher levels of fear than male students. We found that cognitive reappraisal moderated the relations between the fear of discrimination and depressive symptoms, such that higher levels of cognitive reappraisal buffered the detrimental effects of this fear on depressive symptoms. Similarly, emotion suppression moderated the relations between the fear of discrimination and distress, such that higher levels of emotion suppression were associated with lower levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. These results highlight the need for university administrators and faculty to address East Asian first-year college students' high levels of fears related to experiencing anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
ABSTRACT
Long COVID is a chronic condition characterized by symptoms such as fatigue, dyspnea, and cognitive impairment that persist or relapse months after an acute infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many distinct symptoms have been attributed to Long COVID; however, little is known about the potential clustering of these symptoms and risk factors that may predispose patients to certain clusters. In this study, an electronic survey was sent to patients in the UC San Diego Health (UCSDH) system who tested positive for COVID-19, querying if patients were experiencing symptoms consistent with Long COVID. Based on survey results, along with patient demographics reported in the electronic health record (EHR), linear and logistic regression models were used to examine putative risk factors, and exploratory factor analysis was performed to determine symptom clusters. Among 999 survey respondents, increased odds of Long COVID (n = 421; 42%) and greater Long COVID symptom burden were associated with female sex (OR = 1.73, 99% CI: 1.16-2.58; ß = 0.48, 0.22-0.75), COVID-19 hospitalization (OR = 4.51, 2.50-8.43; ß = 0.48, 0.17-0.78), and poorer pre-COVID self-rated health (OR = 0.75, 0.57-0.97; ß = -0.19, -0.32--0.07). Over one-fifth of Long COVID patients screened positive for depression and/or anxiety, the latter of which was associated with younger age (OR = 0.96, 0.94-0.99). Factor analysis of 16 self-reported symptoms suggested five symptom clusters-gastrointestinal (GI), musculoskeletal (MSK), neurocognitive (NC), airway (AW), and cardiopulmonary (CP), with older age (ß = 0.21, 0.11-0.30) and mixed race (ß = 0.27, 0.04-0.51) being associated with greater MSK symptom burden. Greater NC symptom burden was associated with increased odds of depression (OR = 5.86, 2.71-13.8) and anxiety (OR = 2.83, 1.36-6.14). These results can inform clinicians in identifying patients at increased risk for Long COVID-related medical issues, particularly neurocognitive symptoms and symptom clusters, as well as informing health systems to manage operational expectations on a population-health level.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Female , COVID-19/epidemiology , Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome , SARS-CoV-2 , Disease Progression , Anxiety/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This review discusses the evolving evidence base and clinical considerations for examining the direct and indirect effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health of elderly individuals. It briefly addresses the cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in older adults who have survived COVID-19 infections and the complexity of appraising them during different stages of the pandemic. Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the geriatric population are also explored, including those influenced by quarantine, media campaigns, discrimination, and difficulties in accessing supportive services like long-term care and medical care.