Sociodemographic and COVID-Related Predictors for Mental Health Condition of Mainland Chinese in Canada Amidst the Pandemic

Abstract

The current study investigates the mental health condition of Mainland Chinese in Canada and identifies the associated sociodemographic and COVID-19-related predictors. A sample of 471 Mainland Chinese aged 18 or older completed an online survey that collected information on demographics, experience, cognition, and behaviours related to the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health condition. Mental health condition was assessed with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) for the depression, anxiety, and stress levels of Mainland Chinese during the pandemic. Moderate to severe depression, anxiety, and stress levels were respectively reported by 11.30%, 10.83%, and 5.10% of respondents. Univariate analysis of variance models (ANOVAs) were conducted to assess mental health condition variance as stratified by independent sociodemographic- or COVID-19-related explanatory variables, to identify possible predictors to be entered into the subsequent regression models. The regression models identified age, income level, health status, and perceived discrimination as significant sociodemographic predictors (absolute value of βs = 1.19–7.11, ps < 0.05), whereas self-infection worry, attitude towards Canadian measures, information confusion, food/goods stocking, and room cleaning/sanitizing were identified as significant COVID-19-reltaed predictors (absolute value of βs = 1.33–3.45, ps < 0.05) for mental health outcomes. The results shed light on our understanding of the major factors associated with the mental health condition of Mainland Chinese in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress and Loneliness in Chinese Residents in North America: The Role of Contraction Worry

“…Furthermore, the results also identified experienced anti-Chinese discrimination as a risk factor for higher COVID-19 peritraumatic distress (Table 2) and perceived anti-Chinese discrimination as a predictor for higher loneliness (Table 3). These findings were consistent with previous findings that increased experienced discrimination [46] and perceived discrimination [44,48] against Chinese were associated with increased distress or mental health symptoms. Specifically, experienced discrimination was significantly associated with higher levels of COVID-19 peritraumatic distress, suggesting that experiences of discrimination may add a traumatic additional layer to the negative experiences of the pandemic in Chinese residents.…”

“…The results also showed that participants with a poorer self-reported health status tended to show higher COVID-19 peritraumatic distress and loneliness. This replicated Yu et al [44], which identified health status as a risk factor for mental health outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Participants with pre-existing health conditions were experiencing higher distress, possibly because they were at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19.…”

“…Chinese residents have experienced unique mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic [43,44]. Increased anti-Asian racism, feelings of double-unbelonging with regard to both host country and China, and disapproval of political criticism targeting China may pose challenges for Chinese oversea residents due to their cultural, social, and political ties to China [43].…”

“…Furthermore, fear of the virus was significantly correlated with social isolation and racism in Chinese immigrants [48]. In this context, the current study focused on Chinese adults living in North America while considering their well-reported increased risk for negative psychosocial outcomes from COVID-19 [44].…”

Demographic and COVID Experience Predictors of COVID-19 Risk Perception among Chinese Residents in Canada

“…In particular, worry about personally contracting COVID-19 has been significantly associated with COVID-19 peritraumatic distress [ 33 ]. Similarly, previous research showed that perceived and experienced racial discrimination serve as robust predictors for mental health condition among Chinese living in Canada [ 34 , 35 ].…”