The Power of Community: Does Neighborhood Support Mitigate the Health Impact of Anti-Asian Hate?

Background/Purpose: Despite it being over four years that COVID-19 and the blaming of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for the origin and spread of the “Chinese/kung fu virus” started, anti-Asian violence continues to be on an upward swing. Recently, the CDC implemented new 2023 Covid-19-related travel requirements for passengers flying in from China, Hong-Kong, and Macao. Asian American experts caution this continues to place blame on a racial group and sparks fear of a new wave of hate. In 2021, anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 224% to historically elevated levels (with the next increase at 59% for anti-Jewish hate crimes). Since the Covid-19 outbreak, AAPIs were the most likely group to report adverse experiences due to their race/ ethnicity and three in ten US adults say racist views about AAPIs are more common now than before the pandemic.

Literature on anti-Asian hate has been focused on rates of Covid-19 related discrimination and its relationship to mental health. To date, there are no empirical studies looking at Covid-19 related discrimination and physical health outcomes. Discrimination is one of the strongest predictors of poor mental and physical health. Racial discrimination is associated with high blood pressure and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Neighborhood factors, such as social cohesion and safety, protect against depression and health. Neighborhood safety also buffers against stress; AAPIs who felt their neighborhood was safe were less likely to abuse/misuse drugs when faced with discrimination.

The first aim of this study is to replicate and extend findings linking Covid-19 discrimination with mental and physical health. The second is to determine if neighborhood cohesion and safety moderate the negative effects on physical and mental health outcomes.

Methods: We used UCLA’s California Health Interview Survey’s 2022 AANHPI Covid Module restricted weighted dataset (N=1,807). CHIS has facilitated the generation of population-based AAPI estimates used in studies nationwide.

Outcome variables consisted of self-reported mental and physical health measures. Independent variables of Covid-19 based discrimination (including hate crimes, job/housing discrimination) were broken into personal experience and witnessing others, and moderator variables were neighborhood cohesion and safety.

Results: AAPIs exhibited heightened psychological distress and diminished health outcomes in response to greater incidents of discrimination. Notably, the impact of observing discrimination mirrored that of personal experiences. Neighborhood cohesion and safety acted as moderators, with cohesion exerting a more pronounced influence. Although neighborhood cohesion did not significantly mitigate the effects of job or housing discrimination, safety emerged as a significant factor.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings show that witnessing a hate crime can be just as harmful as personally experiencing one. The need for AAPIs need to be hypervigilant for potential discrimination and hate crimes has significant mental and physical health impacts. This study also sheds light on the power of community and how neighborhood cohesion and safety can help mitigate some of the negative effects of race-based discrimination. From a social work perspective, these insights underscore the importance of empowering AAPI communities through initiatives aimed at fostering stronger neighborhood connections and enhancing safety protocols.