Stress Among Asian Youth During COVID-19: Moderation by Educational, Spiritual, and Cultural Sources of Belonging

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine levels of COVID-19 stress among Asian youth-compared to white youth-in a Canadian sample, and whether this stress is moderated by a sense of belonging derived from access to contextual (spiritual, cultural, educational) resources.

Methods: Data are from a longitudinal study of youth in Alberta, Canada. Participants were those who identified as Asian/Southeast Asian (n = 202) or White (n = 772). Data were collected at three waves. Measures included COVID-19 stress, the Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 Contextual subscale, and demographics. Data were analyzed using multivariate regression.

Results: Overall at Wave 3, Asian youth reported significantly higher COVID-19 stress than white youth. In moderation analyses, Asian youth who reported higher Wave 1 Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 Contextual scores also reported higher Wave 3 COVID-19 stress.

Conclusions: We found that experience of a typically protective factor was altered during COVID-19 for Asian youth in this sample. This finding may be related to societal-level discrimination and inequitable treatment experienced by many Asian communities during the pandemic, but future research is needed to test this mechanism.

Keywords: Asian youth; COVID-19; Resilience; Stress.