Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

Biplav Babu Tiwari; Donglan Stacy Zhang

doi:10.1089/heq.2022.0029

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study

Health Equity. 2022 Jun 24;6(1):448-453. doi: 10.1089/heq.2022.0029. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Biplav Babu Tiwari¹, Donglan Stacy Zhang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
² Division of Health Services Research, New York University Long Island School of Medicine, Mineola, New York, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to explore the differences in mental health status among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data from the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study were used to explore the psychological distress of 2672 adults, using the Standard Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.

Results: We observed that among Asian American subgroups, South Asian Americans had significantly higher odds of experiencing psychological distress than non-Hispanic White Americans (odds ratio = 1.82, 95% confidence interval = 1.00-3.31), after controlling for covariates.

Conclusion: The study identified differences in mental health status among Asian American subgroups. We recommend the implementation of culturally appropriate interventions to help Asian Americans cope with mental health challenges.

Keywords: Asian Americans; COVID-19; mental health.