COVID-19 Racism Takes Toll on Chinese Americans’ Mental Health

Chinese Americans are experiencing more racial discrimination and it appears to be affecting their mental health, according to a convenience sample survey.

Among 543 Chinese-American parents, the proportion who reported experiencing racial discrimination in-person and online due to COVID-19 was 50.9% and 31.7%, respectively, reported Charissa S. L. Cheah, PhD, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and colleagues.

In a group of 230 of their children, ages 10-18 years, who were also surveyed, 50.2% and 45.7% said they had experienced racial discrimination in-person and online, respectively, they wrote in Pediatrics.

For both parents and children, experiencing direct discrimination, either online or in-person, was significantly associated with poorer psychological well-being and more anxiety symptoms. Parents who experienced discrimination also reported more depressive symptoms, while youth who experienced discrimination reported more internalizing problems, the authors noted.

Moreover, parents experiencing in-person or online racial discrimination was correlated with significantly more anxiety symptoms and internalizing problems among children.

Cheah noted that Asian Americans have one of the lowest rates of mental-health seeking and that providers should be mindful of these potential experiences, as well as prepared to provide appropriate resources and referrals.

The World Health Organization has urged against mislabeling the virus in this way, saying it perpetuated negative stereotypes and drove people away from getting help or seeking treatment.

“A critical first step is to learn about the history of racism and how it might affect our patients and families, both individually and structurally,” Cheng and Conca-Cheng wrote. “Parents and schools must teach children about bias and racism; crucially, this requires acknowledging our country’s fraught history of exploiting racial and ethnic minorities.”

Cheng and Conca-Cheng recommended healthcare providers address their own implicit biases. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also has a policy statement related to the impact of racism on child and adolescent health that outlines how providers can optimize patient care for families experiencing racism.

Excerpted from “COVID-19 Racism Takes Toll on Chinese Americans’ Mental Health” in MedPage Today. Read the full article online.

Source: MedPage Today | COVID-19 Racism Takes Toll on Chinese Americans’ Mental Health, https://www.medpagetoday.com/psychiatry/generalpsychiatry/89381?xid=nl_covidupdate_2020-10-29 | © 2020 MedPage Today, LLC.

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