COVID-19-related direct and vicarious racial discrimination: Associations with psychological distress among U.S. college students.
J Affect Disord
; 325: 747-754, 2023 03 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2179960
ABSTRACT
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.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Racism
/
Psychological Distress
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
J Affect Disord
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jad.2023.01.009
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