Experiences of COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination and affective reactions in a multiple race sample of U.S. young adults.

BACKGROUND: Little remains known about both Asian and Asian American (A/AA) and non-Asian young adults' experiences and affective reactions regarding COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination. To our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the nature and impact of COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination within a multi-racial sample. METHODS: This study uses qualitative open-ended responses from a sub-sample of Wave I of the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES) data collected between March to September 2020. Thematic analysis was used to explore two open-ended questions: "Are there experiences we missed in the survey so far that you wish to describe?" and "What are your thoughts about the current social climate?" The data analysis for this study focused on 113 discrimination or racism-related comments. RESULTS: A total of 1331 young adults completed an online survey of which 611 provided comments; a multi-racial sample of 95 individuals (65.3% non-Asians, 24.7% A/AA) contributed 113 COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination or racism-related comments. Two overarching themes were: types of discrimination (societal, interpersonal, intrapersonal) and affective reactions to discrimination (fear, anxiety/distress, hopelessness/depression, and avoidance). Not only did both A/AA and non-Asian participants report witnessing or hearing reports of anti-Asian discrimination, but both groups described having negative affective reactions to anti-Asian discrimination. CONCLUSION: Anti-Asian discrimination in the face of COVID may be more widespread than initial reports indicate. Our finding suggests that anti-Asian discrimination is a societal illness that impacts all populations in the U.S. This calls for cross-racial coalitions and solidarity in the fight against discrimination and racism.

Counting and Surveying Homeless Youth: Recommendations from YouthCount 2.0!, a Community-Academic Partnership.

Communities across the United States are increasing efforts to find and count homeless youth. This paper presents findings and lessons learned from a community/academic partnership to count homeless youth and conduct an in depth research survey focused on the health needs of this population. Over a 4 week recruitment period, 632 youth were counted and 420 surveyed. Methodological successes included an extended counting period, broader inclusion criteria to capture those in unstable housing, use of student volunteers in health training programs, recruiting from magnet events for high risk youth, and partnering with community agencies to disseminate findings. Strategies that did not facilitate recruitment included respondent driven sampling, street canvassing beyond known hotspots, and having community agencies lead data collection. Surveying was successful in gathering data on reasons for homelessness, history in public systems of care, mental health history and needs, sexual risk behaviors, health status, and substance use. Youth were successfully surveyed across housing types including shelters or transitional housing (n = 205), those in unstable housing such as doubled up with friends or acquaintances (n = 75), and those who were literally on the streets or living in a place not meant for human habitation (n = 140). Most youth completed the self-report survey and provided detailed information about risk behaviors. Recommendations to combine research data collection with counting are presented.

Embedding Financial Services in Frequented, Trusted Settings: Building on Families' Pre-existing Economic Mobility Efforts.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to understand parents'/guardians' experiences and aspirations around economic mobility and their impact on the acceptability and use of financial services embedded in frequented, trusted settings such as schools and pediatric clinics. METHOD: We recruited 18 English-speaking guardians with at least 1 child enrolled in a school for low-income families and eligible for Internal Revenue Service-sponsored free tax preparation. Each participant completed a semistructured interview before tax filing; a subset completed follow-up interviews. We used grounded theory analysis. RESULTS: We developed the following theoretical model based on our key thematic findings to describe the acceptability and use of financial services within the context of guardians' lived experiences and pre-existing efforts to build economic mobility: Families experience multilevel barriers to economic mobility. Despite these barriers, guardians are proactively working to build economic mobility by empowering the next generation with knowledge, skills, and assets and resiliently pursuing economic goals. As a result, guardians will accept empowering, nonjudgmental, expert, and trustworthy financial services that contribute to their existing efforts. To move from acceptance to use, financial services must be effectively publicized, accessible, and supportive. CONCLUSION: Financial services may be more acceptable and used if they are embedded in trusted organizations and have expert, supportive staff with lived experience who empower guardians to work toward their economic goals, accessible platforms, and effective publicity. These characteristics may facilitate uptake and economic mobility. Trusted organizations serving young families can partner with financial services to test these findings and help families build economic mobility.

Perceived COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination predicts post traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Asian and Asian American young adults.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the prevalence of COVID-19-related discrimination and the extent to which COVID-19-related discrimination is associated with mental health symptoms among Asians and Asian American (A/AA) young adults during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We used data from the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES), a cross-sectional online survey conducted in the U.S. Out of 1,001 respondents, 211 A/AA young adults were analyzed for this study. RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent of A/AA young adults reported that they or their family have experienced COVID-19-related discrimination and approximately 15% of respondents reported verbal or physical assaults. After controlling for covariates including predisposing factors, lifetime discrimination, and pre-existing mental health diagnoses, COVID-19-related discrimination was significantly associated with an increased level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not of anxiety or depression. Our study results suggest that COVID-19-related discrimination may contribute to PTSD symptoms among A/AA young adults. LIMITATIONS: This was cross-sectional data which was collected through online and self-report rather than clinical evaluation. CONCLUSION: This finding adds greater urgency to develop and implement policy- and individual-level interventions to reduce race-based discrimination among A/AA.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Food Insecurity Among Children of Immigrants.

Although research consistently points to higher rates of food insecurity (FI) among children of immigrants (COI), this is the first study to examine longitudinal trajectories of FI for this group. We used growth curve modeling and data from the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort to compare trajectories of FI for COI and children of U.S.-born parents. After controlling for socioeconomic status and participation in nutrition programs, first- and second-generation COI had significantly higher initial and ongoing rates of FI compared to children of U.S.-born parents. Additional analyses found that all differences between COI and children of U.S.-born parents occurred for families in poverty. We find that COI from poor families have higher rates of FI, with some differences among COI by immigrant generation. Policymakers may need to focus on avenues other than public assistance to reduce FI among COI living in poverty.

Barriers and facilitators to shelter utilization among homeless young adults.

Rates of shelter use among homeless youth are low compared to use of other supportive services, yet research on barriers to shelter use has been conducted in limited regions, specifically in West Coast or Midwest cities. Additionally, while studies have generally focused on barriers to shelter use, studies on what might facilitate shelter use are lacking. This study explores barriers and facilitators to shelter use among homeless young adults from a large city in the Southwest region. Focus groups were conducted with a diverse sample of 49 homeless young adults ages 18-24. Drawing on models of health service use, findings were categorized into two domains--attitudinal and access. Themes related to attitudinal barriers include stigma/shame and self-reliance/pride. Attitudinal facilitators include the desire to extricate themselves from street life and turn their lives in a new direction. Access-related themes include barriers such as a lack of shelters and services available to meet the needs of youth, adverse shelter conditions, staff attitudes that are not acceptable to youth, restrictive shelter rules, restrictive definitions of homelessness, and a desire to differentiate themselves from older homeless individuals. Certain characteristics or circumstances (e.g., being pregnant), having supportive others, and shelters' ability to connect them to other services emerged as access facilitators to shelter use. Implications for policymakers, service providers, and future research are discussed.

Exploring Contextual Factors of Youth Homelessness And Sexual Risk Behaviors: A Qualitative Study.

CONTEXT: HIV disproportionately affects homeless youth, and interventions to date have had minimal success in reducing sexual risk behaviors in this population. Few qualitative studies have been conducted to provide insight into the influence of homelessness-related factors on sexual risk behaviors. METHODS: A qualitative study with a quantitative component was conducted with a nonprobability sample of 64 homeless youth aged 14-24; participants were recruited from a variety of venues in Houston between October 2013 and March 2014. Thirteen focus group discussions were conducted; thematic analysis was used to identify themes related to HIV risk. RESULTS: Participants were predominantly black (75%), sheltered (67%) and aged 18 or older (77%). Youth discussed how the circumstances of their homelessness and the struggle to meet their immediate needs led to behaviors and experiences that put them at risk for HIV. Three themes emerged: Homeless youth frequently engage in risky sexual behavior, sometimes as a way to cope with stress; they often trade sex, either voluntarily or involuntarily, for such necessities as money or a place to sleep; and many experienced childhood sexual victimization or have been victimized since becoming homeless. Youth also described how stress, stigma and self-reliance contributed to their involvement in HIV risk behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: HIV prevention methods that target stress and stigma while respecting youths' self-reliance may help reduce sexual risk behaviors. Further research is needed to determine suitable behavioral change techniques to address these potentially modifiable factors.