TY - JOUR
T1 - Coronavirus stigmatization and psychological distress among Asians in the United States
AU - Pan, Stephen W.
AU - Shen, Gordon C.
AU - Liu, Chuncheng
AU - Hsi, Jenny H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Objectives: Coronavirus stigmatization may be disproportionately impacting ethnoracial minority groups in the US. We test three hypotheses: [H1] Asians in the US are more likely to report experiencing coronavirus stigmatization than non-Hispanic Whites; [H2] Coronavirus stigmatization is associated with psychological distress; [H3] Magnitude of association between coronavirus stigmatization and psychological distress is more pronounced among US-born Asians, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Design: We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from the 10–31 March 2020 wave of the Understanding America Survey, a nationally representative survey of adults in the US. Psychological distress was assessed with the PHQ-4. Measures of association were estimated using multiple logistic regression and survey sampling weights. Predicted probabilities were calculated using marginal standardization (n = 6707). Results: [H1] The adjusted predicted probability of experiencing any coronavirus stigma among foreign-born Asians (11.2%, 95% CI: 5.5–17.0%; E-value = 4.52), US-born Asians (10.9%, 95% CI: 5.8–16.0%; E-value = 4.23), Blacks (8.0%, 95% CI: 5.3–10.7%; E-value = 2.92), and Hispanic Whites (7.3%, 95% CI: 4.6–9.9%; E-value = 2.58) was significantly greater than non-Hispanic Whites (4.5%, 95% CI: 3.7–5.4%). [H2] Individuals reporting any coronavirus stigma experience were significantly more likely to exhibit psychological distress (19.9%, 95% CI: 14.6–25.2% vs 10.6%, 9.6–11.6%; E-value = 3.16). [H3] The overall magnitude of association between experience of any coronavirus stigma and psychological distress was not significantly between US-born Asians and non-Hispanic Whites, though we found gender to mask this effect. US-born Asian females who experienced coronavirus stigmatization were more likely to exhibit psychological distress than non-Hispanic white females who experienced coronavirus stigmatization (relative risk (RR): 10.21, 95% CI: 2.69–38.74 vs 1.24, 95% CI: 0.76–2.01; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Comprehensive measures around care seeking, public awareness, and disaggregated data collection are needed to address ethnoracial coronavirus stigmatization and its impact on psychological health and well-being.
AB - Objectives: Coronavirus stigmatization may be disproportionately impacting ethnoracial minority groups in the US. We test three hypotheses: [H1] Asians in the US are more likely to report experiencing coronavirus stigmatization than non-Hispanic Whites; [H2] Coronavirus stigmatization is associated with psychological distress; [H3] Magnitude of association between coronavirus stigmatization and psychological distress is more pronounced among US-born Asians, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Design: We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from the 10–31 March 2020 wave of the Understanding America Survey, a nationally representative survey of adults in the US. Psychological distress was assessed with the PHQ-4. Measures of association were estimated using multiple logistic regression and survey sampling weights. Predicted probabilities were calculated using marginal standardization (n = 6707). Results: [H1] The adjusted predicted probability of experiencing any coronavirus stigma among foreign-born Asians (11.2%, 95% CI: 5.5–17.0%; E-value = 4.52), US-born Asians (10.9%, 95% CI: 5.8–16.0%; E-value = 4.23), Blacks (8.0%, 95% CI: 5.3–10.7%; E-value = 2.92), and Hispanic Whites (7.3%, 95% CI: 4.6–9.9%; E-value = 2.58) was significantly greater than non-Hispanic Whites (4.5%, 95% CI: 3.7–5.4%). [H2] Individuals reporting any coronavirus stigma experience were significantly more likely to exhibit psychological distress (19.9%, 95% CI: 14.6–25.2% vs 10.6%, 9.6–11.6%; E-value = 3.16). [H3] The overall magnitude of association between experience of any coronavirus stigma and psychological distress was not significantly between US-born Asians and non-Hispanic Whites, though we found gender to mask this effect. US-born Asian females who experienced coronavirus stigmatization were more likely to exhibit psychological distress than non-Hispanic white females who experienced coronavirus stigmatization (relative risk (RR): 10.21, 95% CI: 2.69–38.74 vs 1.24, 95% CI: 0.76–2.01; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Comprehensive measures around care seeking, public awareness, and disaggregated data collection are needed to address ethnoracial coronavirus stigmatization and its impact on psychological health and well-being.
KW - Asian-American
KW - COVID-19
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Sinophobia
KW - discrimination
KW - ethnicity
KW - race
KW - racism
KW - social identity threat
KW - stigma
KW - xenophobia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100628260&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13557858.2020.1849570
DO - 10.1080/13557858.2020.1849570
M3 - Article
C2 - 33307773
AN - SCOPUS:85100628260
SN - 1355-7858
VL - 26
SP - 110
EP - 125
JO - Ethnicity and Health
JF - Ethnicity and Health
IS - 1
ER -