Citation
Stolte, Allison; Nagy, Gabriela A.; Zhan, Chanel; Mouw, Ted; & Merli, M. Giovanna (2022). The Impact of Two Types of COVID-19 Discrimination and Contemporaneous Stressors on Chinese Immigrants in the US South. SSM - Mental Health, 2, 100159. PMCID: PMC9509533Abstract
The global rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an increase in anti-Asian discrimination with potentially deleterious effects on individuals of Asian descent. In the present study, we seek to determine associations among COVID-related anti-Asian discrimination, general COVID-19 stressors, acculturative stressors, and perceptions of stress as well as the role of ethnic identity in moderating how exposures to various forms of COVID-related discrimination affect stress in a population-representative sample of Chinese immigrants in North Carolina. Analyses rely on data collected among participants ages 18+ in the Chinese Immigrants in Raleigh-Durham (ChIRDU) study who completed surveys in 2018 and during the COVID-19 pandemic (July-September 2020). We utilize ordinary least squares regressions to examine associations of two types of COVID-related discrimination (measured by changes in perceptions of being feared by others and racism-related vigilance) and contemporaneous stressors with perceptions of stress by pre-pandemic ethnic identity. Controlling for sociodemographic predictors and other stressors, racism-related vigilance is significantly associated with higher perceived stress for Chinese immigrants who identify as completely Chinese. For those who identify as at least partly American, new perceptions of being feared by others during the pandemic are significantly associated with higher perceived stress. Acculturative and COVID-related stressors are independently associated with higher perceived stress for both groups. These results suggest that COVID-related anti-Asian discrimination aggravates the psychological burden of multiple stressors in Chinese immigrants' lives by uniquely contributing to perceptions of stress alongside contemporaneous stressors. The results also highlight the heterogeneous mental health needs of Chinese immigrants and hold important implications for intervention development in the community studied here as well in other Chinese communities in the US.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100159Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2022Journal Title
SSM - Mental HealthAuthor(s)
Stolte, AllisonNagy, Gabriela A.
Zhan, Chanel
Mouw, Ted
Merli, M. Giovanna