Asian Americans' racial discrimination experiences during COVID-19: Social support and locus of control as moderators

ABSTRACT

Using a cross-sectional survey design, we examined whether social support was a stress buffer against direct online and vicarious general racial discrimination for 218 Asian/Asian American college students in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the buffering effect depended on external locus of control (external LOC). An alarming percentage of Asian/Asian American students reported direct online (58.7%) and vicarious racial discrimination (88.1%). Moderated moderation with bootstrap analysis revealed detrimental effects of direct online and vicarious racial discrimination on mental health, and protective effects of social support and low external LOC. Importantly, we found several significant Racial discrimination x Social support x External LOC interaction effects. High levels of social support were only consistently found to be a significant buffer against direct online racial discrimination for those with moderate-to-high external LOC. Results indicated that the buffering effect of social support depended on external LOC and the type of racial discrimination during the current pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Asian/Asian American college students with limited social support and high external LOC were especially vulnerable to racism-related psychological symptoms during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. High levels of social support were a buffer against direct online racial discrimination for those with high external LOC. Social support may be less effective as a stress buffer for vicarious racial discrimination. It is important to promote coping strategies that are consistent with one's values and beliefs and responsive to the nature of the racial stressors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)