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<p>The COVID-19 pandemic intensified discrimination and xenophobia, disproportionately impacting Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI). While discrimination is a known risk factor for mental health challenges, few studies have examined the relationships between COVID-19-related discrimination, loneliness, and coping strategies on AAPI mental health. Using longitudinal data from the Understanding America Study (June 2020–July 2021) and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models, this study investigated how loneliness and coping mechanisms shape the relationship between discrimination and mental distress, measured by the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), in a sample of 7,592 observations from AAPI. Findings revealed that heightened experiences of discrimination and loneliness significantly increased mental distress (b<sub>discrimination=</sub> 0.04, <i>p</i> &lt;.01; b<sub>loneliness</sub> =1.15, <i>p</i> &lt;.001), with loneliness mediating 38% of the discrimination-distress link. In examining coping methods, relaxation coping emerged as a protective factor for mental distress, whereas social media use and substance use heightened distress and loneliness. Social coping effectively reduced loneliness but did not directly alleviate distress. Notably, frequent social media use exacerbated the adverse effects of both discrimination (b = 0.01, <i>p</i> &lt;.05) and loneliness (b = 0.04, <i>p</i> &lt;.001) on mental health. The findings underscore the importance of mental health interventions to address loneliness, promote adaptive coping strategies, and mitigate the impacts of discrimination on AAPI communities, fostering resilience during and beyond the pandemic.</p>

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The Mental Health Toll of COVID-19: Discrimination, Loneliness, and Coping Behaviors among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月1日

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  • Soyoung Kwon,
  • Shannon Shen

摘要

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified discrimination and xenophobia, disproportionately impacting Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI). While discrimination is a known risk factor for mental health challenges, few studies have examined the relationships between COVID-19-related discrimination, loneliness, and coping strategies on AAPI mental health. Using longitudinal data from the Understanding America Study (June 2020–July 2021) and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models, this study investigated how loneliness and coping mechanisms shape the relationship between discrimination and mental distress, measured by the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), in a sample of 7,592 observations from AAPI. Findings revealed that heightened experiences of discrimination and loneliness significantly increased mental distress (bdiscrimination= 0.04, p <.01; bloneliness =1.15, p <.001), with loneliness mediating 38% of the discrimination-distress link. In examining coping methods, relaxation coping emerged as a protective factor for mental distress, whereas social media use and substance use heightened distress and loneliness. Social coping effectively reduced loneliness but did not directly alleviate distress. Notably, frequent social media use exacerbated the adverse effects of both discrimination (b = 0.01, p <.05) and loneliness (b = 0.04, p <.001) on mental health. The findings underscore the importance of mental health interventions to address loneliness, promote adaptive coping strategies, and mitigate the impacts of discrimination on AAPI communities, fostering resilience during and beyond the pandemic.