A Qualitative Study of Asian American Adolescents’ Experiences of Support During the COVID-19 and Racism Syndemic

Atkin, Annabelle L.
Ahn, Lydia HaRim
Yi, Jacqueline
Li, Jocelyn

Department of Human Development and Family Science, Purdue University
School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Arizona State University
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Bothell
Wellesley High School

Annabelle L. Atkin played a lead role in conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, project administration, and writing–original draft and an equal role in writing–review and editing. Lydia HaRim Ahn played a lead role in writing–review and editing and a supporting role in conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, project administration, and writing–original draft. Jacqueline Yi played a supporting role in writing–original draft, and writing–review and editing. Jocelyn Li played a supporting role in formal analysis and writing–original draft.

Annabelle L. Atkin, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Purdue University, Hanley Hall 235, 1202 Mitch Daniels Boulevard, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2055, United States [email protected]

Received June 5, 2023

revised February 16, 2024

Accepted February 22, 2024

Asian American Journal of Psychology Publish Ahead of Print, July 18, 2024. | DOI: 10.1037/aap0000342

The present study’s goal was to understand Asian American adolescents’ experiences with discussing anti-Asian racism with their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and their perceptions of the support they received from their parents and other sources. Responses to three open-ended questions in a survey completed by 309 Asian American adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 were collected using Qualtrics Panels. Seventeen Asian ethnicities were represented in the sample, and the majority were U.S. born; 145 (46.9%) participants identified as male, 156 (50.5%) identified as female, four (1.3%) identified as gender nonconforming, two (0.6%) chose not to answer, one identified as a transgender man (0.3%), and one (0.3%) wrote in “unsure.” Data were analyzed using a consensual qualitative research-modified approach, which is appropriate for short narratives from larger samples. Findings identified five themes for anti-Asian racism discussions (i.e., silent socialization, vicarious discrimination socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, and colorblind socialization), four themes for family support (i.e., direct support, indirect support, wish for more race-conscious support, and colorblind support), and three other sources of support (i.e., friends, social media and the internet, and school). Implications for practitioners and policymakers are discussed.