Asian American Mental Health Research Articles

Culprits or Victims? Social Media Use, Mediated Ethnic Blame, and Asian American Mental Health During COVID-19

ABSTRACT The present study aims to understand whether and how social media use negatively affected Asian Americans’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We build on previous research on media framing, stigma, and stereotyping to understand whether social media messages about Asians as culprits to blame for the pandemic, direct experiences of racism, or media coverage of victims of anti-Asian hate crimes led to mental health outcomes for this racial group. We use an online survey of Asian American participants (N = 527) conducted in 2020 to test the role of (a) mediated ethnic blame (MEB), (b) direct stigma, and (c) indirect stigma in explaining the relationship between social media use and mental health among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results demonstrate that mediated ethnic blame, but not direct or indirect stigma experiences, is associated with Asian Americans’ mental health. Implications for media framing, health communication, and journalism are discussed.

Asian American mental health help-seeking: An Asian value-informed health belief model.

Asian American mental health help-seeking: An Asian value-informed health belief model.

Internalized racism and Asian American mental health.

Internalized racism and Asian American mental health.

Supplemental Material for Internalized Racism and Asian American Mental Health

Supplemental Material for Internalized Racism and Asian American Mental Health

Precipitating Factors and Receptivity of Psychoanalytic Treatments among Chinese Americans

ABSTRACT Chinese Americans have been known for underutilization of mental health services and premature termination. This study explores these phenomena through Chinese cultural and psychoanalytical perspectives. Specifically, two sets of factors were identified: precipitating and receptivity factors. The precipitating factors include childrearing practices and pursuit of education by studying abroad at an early age. The receptivity factors include the lack of familiarity with psychoanalysis, the emphasis of efficiency in Chinese culture, shame and stigma associated with mental illness, and the seeming reluctance of this ethnic group to opening up to professional strangers. A brief review of studies on Asian American mental health was conducted. Early termination was further discussed through psychoanalytic concepts and theories including Bion’s maternal reverie, attacks on linking, and container and contained; Winnicott’s primary maternal preoccupation; and Meltzer’s apprehension of beauty and aesthetic conflict.

CHATogether Skit Development and Healing of Asian American Generation Z’s Unspoken Agonies: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT Generation Z (Gen Z) has experienced unprecedented psychological challenges in recent history, and Asian American Gen Zers, in particular, bear a distinct mental health burden. This pilot study introduces Compassionate Home, Action Together (CHATogether)’s novel digital community program that promotes Asian American mental health through interactive theater and explores the impacts of theater skit development on Gen Zers’ mental health and family relationships. Here, we guide participants to develop skits using these stages: 1) identifying topics and collaborators; 2) planning the scene; 3) improvisation; 4) writing; 5) community engagement. We then explore the impact of the skit production process on participants’ emotional health through interviewing nine individuals and using thematic analysis of those anonymized transcripts. Results suggest that narrative writing, improvisation, and acting may hold a future for culturally adaptive and family-centered interventions for Asian American Gen Zers. A larger study scale is warranted for validity of potential clinical applications.

Internalizing the model minority myth: Dangers for Asian American mental health and attitudes towards other minorities

AbstractThe model minority myth (MMM) falsely portrays Asian Americans as the “model minority” racial group in the United States due to their perceived educational and professional success. The MMM also paints an overly positive picture of the Asian American experience by ascribing primarily positive racial stereotypes to this group and blatantly disregarding the social adversity they continue to face as a racially marginalized population in the U.S. Research has demonstrated that even positive racial stereotypes can cause psychological harm due to heightened pressure to achieve unrealistic expectations. However, less is known about the psychological process of how Asian Americans internalize the stereotypes associated with the MMM. This article seeks to fill this gap by providing a review of the existing research regarding the internalization of the MMM among Asian Americans. Further, this article contributes to the literature by specifying how MMM internalization (a) impacts the way that Asian Americans view themselves, (b) influences mental health outcomes among Asian Americans, and (c) impacts the attitudes that Asian Americans form about other racial minority groups in the U.S. This article highlights several key gaps in the existing literature that should be addressed in future research and provides strategic policy recommendations for practitioners who seek to reduce psychological consequences resulting from internalizing stereotypes that portray Asian Americans as a “model minority”.

Anti-Racist Pedagogy as Activism: Cultivating Radical Healing and Liberation among Asian American Counseling and Psychology Students

The links between experiences of discrimination and mental health consequences have been well established among Asian Americans. Since the pandemic, anti-Asian racism and xenophobia surged, and the negative outcomes can be severe and long-lasting. Asian American mental health professionals can play an important role in addressing the mental health needs in the Asian American community. Feminist psychologists have long criticized the oppressive nature of traditional Western mental health practices. Strategies to promote liberation and radical healing among Asian American students are especially needed, given the challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that their needs are often overlooked due to the model-minority stereotype. This article offers critical consciousness–informed pedagogy as a form of anti-racist feminist practice to cultivate radical healing and liberation for Asian American students. Anti-racist teaching strategies include: modeling by counseling and psychology educators, challenging internalized oppression and teaching accurate history, building community and collectivism, cultivating solidarity with other communities, and supporting student activism.

1.35 CHATogether is an Effective and Adaptable Community-Based Intervention for Addressing Asian American Mental Health Needs: A Mixed Methods Study

1.35 CHATogether is an Effective and Adaptable Community-Based Intervention for Addressing Asian American Mental Health Needs: A Mixed Methods Study

Asian American mental health amidst COVID-19 anti-Asian racism: Internalized racism and generational status as moderators.

Asian American mental health amidst COVID-19 anti-Asian racism: Internalized racism and generational status as moderators.

The Impacts of Social Media Use and Online Racial Discrimination on Asian American Mental Health: Cross-sectional Survey in the United States During COVID-19.

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, increased social media usage has led to worsened mental health outcomes for many people. Moreover, due to the sociopolitical climate during the pandemic, the prevalence of online racial discrimination has contributed to worsening psychological well-being. With increases in anti-Asian hate, Asian and Asian American social media users may experience the negative effects of online racial discrimination in addition to the reduced psychological well-being resulting from exposure to online COVID-19 content.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19–related social media use and exposure to online racial discrimination during the pandemic on the mental health outcomes (ie, anxiety, depression, and secondary traumatic stress [STS]) of Asian Americans compared with those of non-Asian Americans. In addition, this study explores the mediating role of negative affect and the moderating role of racial/ethnic identification.MethodsAn online survey was conducted through Amazon Mechanical Turk and a university-wide research portal from March 3 to March 15, 2021. A total of 1147 participants took the survey. Participants’ social media usage related to COVID-19 and exposure to 2 online forms of racial discrimination (individual and vicarious), mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and STS), racial/ethnic identification, negative affect, and demographics were assessed.ResultsOur results showed that COVID-19–related social media use, individual discrimination, and vicarious discrimination were predictors of negative mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and STS). Asian Americans reported higher vicarious discrimination than Latinx and White Americans, but Asian Americans’ mental health outcomes did not differ substantially from those of the other racial/ethnic groups. Racial/ethnic identification moderated the relationship between both types of discrimination and STS, and negative affect served as a mediator between both types of discrimination and all 3 mental health outcomes.ConclusionsThese results suggest that social media exposure continues to have a dire effect on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study helps to contextualize the rise of anti-Asian American hate and its impact on mental health outcomes in the United States.

Asian American Mental Health: Looking Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

Asian American Mental Health: Looking Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

Asian-Americans in COVID-19: A Literature Review of Mental Health Status and Service Use

Objectives: Reports of racial discrimination against Asian Americans has surged during the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of Asian Americans' mental health status during Covid-19 and an assessment of the barriers and disparities within Asian Americans mental health service delivery. Methods: Four databases and the publisher The Lancet were chosen to search journal articles regarding Asian Americans' mental health status and service use. The increasing racial discrimination was examined as a critical parameter to assess Asian Americans' mental health status. The accessibility of mental health services and the responsiveness of Asian Americans appropriate needs were studied by gender, subgroups and other moderating factors. Results: A total of 49 studies met the review criteria. Asian Americans encountered increasing coronavirus-related discrimination and presented a deteriorated mental health state during Covid-19. A high rate of informal/non-professional mental health service use and an overall low rate of professional service use were found in Asian Americans. Inaccurate self-reporting and diagnosis, language barriers, financial difficulty, and the lack of health insurance and education are contributing factors of the unmet needs of Asian Americans when seeking mental health services. Conclusions: Possible reasons that explain Asian Americans mental health issues reside in socio-economic factors such as cultural differences, limited English proficiency, and low prevalence rates of health insurance and education. Evidence-based policies against racism, inter-ethnic connections, and cultural identity understanding are needed on national and community levels to address Asian hate crimes and discrimination. Virtual mental health services, culture-specific forms of intervention and treatment responses and appropriate education about Asian American mental health issues can help improve Asian Americans' mental health conditions.

From Disparities to Progress: Cultural Reflexivity in Framing Asian American Mental Health Research

ABSTRACT This paper examines the current theory base that is explicit in research to understanding mental health disparities seen among Asian Americans. I will argue that the disparities framework is effectively insufficient due to the epistemological and ontological dominance of “mental illness” and “mental health services” via comparisons to non-Latino whites that is implicit in its methodology. Using a social constructionist conceptual framework as well as a critical discourse analysis, I will explicate the perpetuating limitations of the current disparities research agenda and propose cultural reflexivity in framing future research that may be more equitable and inclusive for Asian American health and well-being.

Asian American mental health during COVID-19: A call for task-sharing interventions

In the age of COVID-19, the Asian American community is facing a number of unique risks and barriers to mental health care. Mounting challenges—including language barriers, unemployment, racialized trauma, and anti-Asian violence—threaten the health and wellness of these communities. Yet, structural obstacles prevent Asian Americans from accessing care within the professionalized behavioral health workforce. Leveraging the resources of Asian American peer networks, collectives, and community-based organizations through a task-sharing program presents an attractive alternative for mental health care provision. Investing in task-sharing approaches to care would both address access barriers and build capacity within the Asian American community.

Making Mental Health through Open in Emergency

This epistolary essay chronicles the making of Open in Emergency: A Special Issue on Asian American Mental Health (2016, 2019), an interdisciplinary, hybrid book arts project that is an antiracist and disability justice rethinking of mental health. Open in Emergency works to decolonize our approaches to un/wellness and radically expand our vocabularies through the arts and humanities. This essay, written in the form of love letters, journeys through the relationships, experiences, and curatorial processes that inform Open in Emergency’s interventions, particularly what the author dubs a “pedagogy of unwellness,” a crip temporality, epistemology, and ethics that rethink how we experience unwellness and the kinds of care our unwellness requires. The essay offers up Open in Emergency as an example of the kinds of intellectual and arts practices we might engage to develop new ways, and times, of care, for all of us.

A Call to Action for Psychology in the Wake of Anti-Asian Violence

Anti-Asian violence has been on the rise since March 2020. Recent data on rates of discrimination and violence as well as the impact on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) mental health is presented and discussed in the context of common stereotypes about AAPIs. Suggestions for how the field of psychology can be helpful in responding to anti-Asian hate are offered. The article concludes with a message to AAPI psychology students about caring for themselves and finding community.

Mental Health of Asian American Older Adults: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions.

Given the increased attention to older Asian Americans due to their increasing numbers in the United States, this article aims to provide a collective appraisal of older Asian American mental health issues by reviewing trends in older Asian American mental health research over the past 2 decades. This review article provides an overview of the current state of mental health and care research on older Asian Americans and vital factors associated with older Asian American mental health and care. We also identify gaps in current research on Asian American mental health issues and propose 5 potential areas for future research into which gerontologists need to put more effort during the next decade. Ways to reduce disparities in mental health and improve the quality of mental health of older Asian Americans are also discussed.

Asian American Values and Attitudes Towards Seeking Mental Health Services

Using Stern et al.’s (1999) Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory as a model of understanding, we examined 75 Asian American adults with an emphasis on internalized values and their attitudes towards seeking mental health services. The sample was primarily Indian and Chinese Americans with no significant differences found between groups. Enculturation and acculturation values emerged as full and partial mediating effects of attitudes towards seeking mental health services, respectively. The study’s results deepen the understanding and add to the limited research regarding Asian Americans’ attitudes towards seeking mental health services and additionally provide insight into where Asian American mental health stigmatization may stem from. Implications of the study’s findings are directed towards mental health practitioners, community centers, and other counseling centers to include more of a focus on Asian Americans’ internalized values when conducting research and attempting to provide community support.

Asian American mental health: Longitudinal trend and explanatory factors among young Filipino- and Korean Americans.

ObjectivesThis study examined a longitudinal trend of mental health among young Asian Americans during the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood and investigated explanatory factors of the trend.MethodWe longitudinally followed a cohort of Filipino American and Korean American youth and their families in Midwest since 2014 (N = 1,574 in Wave 1). This study used three waves of youth data (n = 781, MAGE = 15 in W1).ResultsDepressive symptoms and suicidal ideation significantly increased among the samples between 2014 and 2018, which also became more serious in severity. Intergenerational cultural conflict in the family and the experience of racial discrimination significantly contributed to the upsurge of mental health distress. Conversely, a strong peer relationship and ethnic identity were critical resources suppressing both depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation.ConclusionsThis study substantiated a troubling upward trend in mental health struggles among young Asian Americans and demonstrated a significant additive influence of culture and race/ethnicity on mental health beyond the normative influences of family process and peers. These key factors should be targeted in intervention to better serve Asian American young people who may mask their internal struggles.