Primary Submission Category: Race/Ethnicity
Spillover Effects of the 2021 Atlanta Mass Shooting on the Population-level Mental Health of Asian Americans
Authors: Carlos Irwin Oronce Rachel Banawa Erin Manalo-Pedro Michele Wong
Presenting Author: Carlos Irwin Oronce*
Background/Significance
Amidst rising anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlanta mass shooting that killed six Asian American (AA) women on March 16, 2021, underscored the urgent need to address racialized and sexualized violence directed towards AA women, and the broader impact this violence has on the AA community. Longstanding intersectional oppression, such as hypersexualization and fetishization of AA women, is associated with poor mental health among AA women, including suicidal ideation. Given the intersectional dimensions of the mass shooting, this hate crime may have worsened mental health for the AA population, and AA women specifically, through mechanisms like vicarious racism.
Data/Methods
Using data from the US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey (HPS), we used a pre-post study design to examine changes in mental health among AAs nationally compared to non-Asian Americans, before and after the Atlanta mass shooting (January 6, 2021 to June 21, 2021). Our outcomes included clinically-significant depressive symptoms, defined as a score of 3 or more on the Personal Health Questionnaire 2-item screener, and clinically-significant anxiety symptoms, defined as a score of 3 or more on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item screener. Additionally, we conducted a subgroup analysis among Asian women respondents. All analyses incorporated survey weights.
Preliminary Results
We examined 818,433 adult responses from the HPS. Of the adult respondents, 43,336 (weighted N=14,700,702) self-identified as Asian and 49.3% were women. Nationally, there were secular trends with declining prevalence of clinically-significant depressive or anxiety symptoms, across all racial and sex groups. Asian respondents reported a significant worsening in symptoms relative to non-Asians in the 2 weeks immediately after the Atlanta mass shooting. Findings were similar among Asian women.