COVID-19 Racism and Chinese American Families’ Mental Health: A Comparison between 2020 and 2021

Abstract

This study compared rates of multiple forms of COVID-19 racism-related discrimination experiences, fear/worries, and their associations with mental health indices among Chinese American parents and youth between 2020 and 2021. Chinese American parents of 4- to 18-year-old children and a subsample of their 10- to 18-year-old adolescents completed surveys in 2020 and 2021. A high percentage of Chinese American parents and their children continued to experience or witness anti-Chinese/Asian racism both online and in person in 2021. Parents and youth experienced less vicarious discrimination in person but more direct discrimination (both online and in person) and reported poorer mental health in 2021 than in 2020. Associations with mental health were stronger in 2021 than in 2020 for parents’ and/or youth’s vicarious discrimination experiences, perceptions of Sinophobia, and government-related worries, but weaker only for parents’ direct discrimination experiences. The spillover effect from parents’ vicarious discrimination experiences and Sinophobia perceptions to all youth mental health indices were stronger in 2021 than in 2020. Chinese American families experienced high rates of racial discrimination across multiple dimensions, and the detrimental impacts on their mental health were still salient in the second year of the pandemic. Vicarious and collective racism may have even stronger negative impacts on mental health and well-being later in the pandemic. Decreasing health disparities for Chinese Americans and other communities of color requires extensive, long-term national efforts to eliminate structural aspects of racism.

To Be in Harmony: Chinese American Adolescents’ and Parents’ Bicultural Integration During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In addition to the physical health threat of the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, Chinese Americans have experienced heightened racial discrimination, which was associated with negative consequences for their mental health (Cheah et al, 2020(Cheah et al, , 2023Lee & Waters, 2021;Woo & Jun, 2021). Our study sought to elucidate the potential mediating and moderating roles of Chinese American adolescents and their parents' abilities to balance their two cultures and cultural identities in the relation between adolescents' experiences of racial discrimination and their internalizing problems reported during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Due to the stay-at-home order and social distancing regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the family context may be especially important for adolescents' development and adjustment in light of intense anti-Asian hate sentiment. For Chinese American families experiencing heightened racial discrimination during the pandemic (Cheah et al, 2020(Cheah et al, , 2023, understanding the role that parents play in their adolescents' negotiation of their bicultural identity is especially crucial. Bicultural parents who perceive harmonious coexistence between their two cultures in their own identities may create a broader family setting that facilitates and equips children with the necessary cognitive, interpersonal, and emotional tools to successfully navigate and negotiate both cultural grounds and identities (Nguyen & Benet-Martínez, 2013).…”

“…All of the measures used in the current study had been previously used and shown to be valid and reliable for Chinese American samples (e.g., Cheah et al, 2021Cheah et al, , 2023Yoo & Lee, 2005). The descriptive analysis was conducted in SPSS 28.…”

“…Future research should examine the temporality and directionality between BII-Harmony and racial discrimination. Furthermore, it is crucial to explore the long-term impact of racial discrimination on adolescents' internalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic (Cheah et al, 2023), but also the role of adolescent and parental BII-Harmony beyond the period of the pandemic. Last, the dynamic bidirectional link between parents and children's bicultural identity processes requires attention in future research.…”

“…Asian Americans’ racial discrimination experiences during the pandemic have been found to be related to higher levels of internalizing problems (Lee & Waters, 2021; Woo & Jun, 2021). Cheah and colleagues (2020, 2023) found that about one in two Chinese American adolescents and parents were the victims of in-person racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and these experiences were associated with internalizing problems in both 2020 and 2021.…”