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1. Chinese American Adolescents’ Experiences of COVID‐19‐Related Racial Discrimination and Anxiety: Person‐Centered and Intersectional Approaches

   https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12696  

   Zong, Xiaoli; Cheah, Charissa S. L.; Ren, Huiguang (December 2021, Journal of Research on Adolescence)

   The present study examined the impact of COVID‐19‐related racial discrimination on Chinese American adolescents (N = 213;M_age = 13.95 years,SD = 2.35; 49% girls) at the intersection of race and gender. We explored (1) subgroups of adolescents based on ethnic identity, bicultural identity integration, and behavioral acculturation; (2) their demographic correlates; and (3) whether the association between racial discrimination and anxiety varied across subgroups and gender. Latent profile analysis identified three profiles:bicultural,marginalized, andseparated.Biculturalandmarginalizedadolescents were vulnerable to direct and vicarious racial discrimination, respectively. Moreover,biculturalandmarginalizedboys andseparatedgirls were more negatively affected by COVID‐19‐related racial discrimination. The findings highlight the utility of person‐centered and intersectional approaches in understanding Chinese American adolescents’ experiences of racial discrimination. 

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2. Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Resilience Factors in African American Youth Mental Health

   Neblett, Enrique W (February 2023, Annual review of clinical psychology)

   Racism constitutes a significant risk to the mental health of African American children, adolescents, and emerging adults. This review evaluates recent literature examining ethnic and racial identity, ethnic-racial socialization, religiosity and spirituality, and family and parenting as racial, ethnic, and cultural resilience factors that shape the impact of racism on youth mental health. Representative studies, purported mechanisms, and critiques of prior research are presented for each factor. Recent studies of racism and resilience revisit foundational resilience factors from prior research while reflecting new and important advances (e.g., consideration of gender, cultural context, structural racism), providing important insights for the development of prevention and intervention efforts and policy that can alleviate mental health suffering and promote health and mental health equity for African American youth. 

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3. Latinx youth’s and parents’ covid-19 beliefs, vaccine hesitancy and vaccination rates: Longitudinal associations in a community sample

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307479  

   Mantina, Namoonga; M; Ngaybe, Maiya G_Block; Zeiders, Katharine H; Osman, Kayla M; Wilkinson-Lee, Ada M; Landor, Antoinette M; Hoyt, Lindsay T (July 2024, PLOS ONE)

   Stimpson, Jim P (Ed.)

   Introduction The Latinx population has the second highest COVID-19 death rate among racial/ethnic groups in the United States and less than half of Latinx youth aged 5–17 years old completed their COVID-19 primary vaccination series as of September 2022. COVID-19 vaccine misinformation detrimentally impacts vaccination rates. In this study, we examined factors that predicted Latinx youth COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccination status. Methods A community-based sample of 290 Latinx parent and adolescent dyads from a Southwestern metropolitan area of the United States who were recruited to complete an online survey at baseline at T1 (August 2020 –March 2021) and one year later. We tested a longitudinal mediation model in which we examined individual and family factors that would predict youth COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccination status over time. Results Youth’s pandemic disbelief (i.e., the belief that the COVID-19 pandemic is a conspiracy or not real) predicted greater youth’s COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and in turn, a lower likelihood of youth’s COVID-19 vaccination. Youth’s pandemic disbelief also predicted greater parent’s vaccination hesitancy which, in turn, predicted greater youth’s vaccination hesitancy and a lower likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination. Parents’ pandemic disbelief predicted their own COVID-19 hesitancy, but not youth hesitancy Discussion Our study findings provide initial evidence that general pandemic disbelief was a significant driver of vaccine hesitancy and vaccination among Latinx families. The study contributes to the limited research investigating COVID-19 vaccination in the Latinx community and among Latinx youth, further aiding how COVID-19 vaccine disparities can be mitigated among racial/ethnic populations. 

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4. Ethnic–Racial Discrimination Exposure and Anxiety in Latina Girls: Amygdala Volume as an Indirect Neurobiological Pathway

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-024-00946-2  

   Mullins, Jordan_L; Díaz, Dana_E; Firat, Rengin_B; Michalska, Kalina_J (April 2024, KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie)

   Abstract Ethnic–racial discrimination, the differential treatment of individuals based on ethnic or racial group membership, predicts poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety. This is supported by long-standing theories on the social determinants of health and minority stress. However, these theories are rarely expanded to neurobiological sciences, limiting our understanding of mechanisms underlying observed associations. One potential neurobiological pathway between ethnic–racial discrimination exposure and anxiety is that ongoing exposure to racially charged encounters presents imminent threats that may modify stress-sensitive neurocircuitry, like the amygdala. The current study evaluated whether amygdala volume mediated associations between ethnic–racial discrimination exposure and anxiety symptoms in Latina girls, a group exhibiting heightened levels of untreated anxiety and disproportionately subjected to ethnic–racial discrimination. Thirty predominantly Mexican-identifying Latina girls residing in Southern California (M_Age = 9.76,SD = 1.11 years) completed a T1-weighted structural MRI scan. Using thePerceptions of Racism in Children and Youth, participants self-reported the prevalence and severity of various discriminatory experiences. Participants also self-reported their anxiety symptoms via theScreen for Child Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders.Controlling for total intracranial volume and annual household income, an indirect effect of ethnic–racial discrimination on anxiety symptoms via left amygdala volume was observed,β = −0.28,SE = 0.17, BC 95% CI [−0.690, −0.017]. The current findings suggest that the left amygdala is sensitive to racialized threats in childhood and that stress-related alterations may, in part, contribute to elevated anxiety in Latina girls. Our data elucidate a potential mechanism by which this form of sociocultural stress can adversely impact mental health, particularly in the transition from middle childhood to early adolescence, a period marked by a host of interlinked neurophysiological and social changes. 

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5. Crisis response among essential workers and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106852  

   Sugg, M.M. (February 2022, Preventive medicine)

   Limited research has been conducted on the mental health concerns of frontline and essential workers and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (U.S.). This study examined the association between working on the frontlines in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic (March to July 2020) and personal crisis text concerns (e.g., self-harm, suicidal thoughts, anxiety/stress, and substance abuse) for frontline essential workers and the children of frontline workers. We used a novel data set from a crisis texting service, Crisis Text Line (CTL), that is widely used throughout the U.S. Generalized Estimating Equations examined the individual association between eight specific crisis types (Depression, Stress/Anxiety, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Substance Abuse, Isolation, Relationship Issues, and Abuse) and being in frontline work or being a child of a frontline worker during the early phase of the pandemic. Using CTL concerns as a proxy for the prevalence of mental health issues, we found that children of workers, specifically the youngest demographic (13 years and under), females, and non-conforming youth had a higher risk of specific crisis events during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Hispanic children of workers reported higher rates of stress/anxiety, whereas African American children of workers had higher rates of abuse and depression. Frontline workers had a higher risk of suicidal thoughts, and the risk of crisis events was generally highest for non-binary, transgender, and male users. Increases in CTL usage among frontline workers were noted across 7–28 days after spikes in local COVID-19 cases. The research to date has focused on the mental health of frontline essential workers, but our study highlights troubling trends in psychological stress among children of these workers. Supportive interventions and mental health resources are needed not only for frontline essential workers but for their children too. 

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