Changes in familial discussions among East Asian American families during the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Sei Eun Kim,Zhenqiang Zhao,Russell B. Toomey
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12896

RESEARCH

Changes in familial discussions among East Asian

American families during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sei Eun Kim

1

|Zhenqiang Zhao

2

|Russell B. Toomey

3

1

Department of Counseling and Clinical

Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia

University, New York, NY, United States

2

Department of Psychology, Fordham

University, New York, NY, United States

3

Human Development and Family Science,

The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ,

United States

Correspondence

Sei Eun Kim, Department of Counseling and

Clinical Psychology, Teachers College,

Columbia University, 525 W 120th Street,

New York, NY 10027, USA.

Email: sek2177@tc.columbia.edu

Funding information

This research was supported by the Frances

McClelland Institute and the Graduate and

Professional Student Council of the University

of Arizona.

Abstract

Objective: We examined the degrees of change in familial

discussions about racial issues (i.e., race, ethnicity, racism,

and discrimination) due to the surge of anti-Asian discrim-

ination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Asian American family racial–ethnic socializa-

tion that teaches the values, information, and perspectives

about racial–ethnic group membership and race relations

carry great implications for youth development. However,

little is known about how anti-Asian sentiments may have

contributed to thedegrees of change i n racial issues.

Method: Theparticipantsincluded143 second-generation

East Asian American youth (e.g., Chinese, Korean,

Japanese, and Taiwanese) ages 11–18 years(M=14.96,

SD =1.98). Youth were attending middle (38%) or high

(62%) schools in the United States.

Results: Latent profile analysis identified four profiles of

degrees of change in familial discussions: (a) moderate change

in racial discussions about other ethnicities, (b) much change in

racial discussions, (c) moderate change in racial discussions

about own ethnicities, and (d) little change in racial discussions.

Conclusion: Our findings provide a snapshot of the ways

East Asian American families’racial discussions are chang-

ing, which in turn shape youth’s experiences in navigating

their social contexts.

Implications: The findings provide valuable directions for

research and interventions to promote important racial

discussion among East Asian American families.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, East Asian American youth, family discussions, family

racial–ethnic socialization, racial discrimination

Author note: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All procedures performed in the studies were by the ethical

standards of the Institutional Research Board of the University of Arizona. Informed consent was obtained from all participants

included in the study.

Received: 17 December 2022Revised: 19 February 2023Accepted: 1 April 2023

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12896

© 2023 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:1569–1585. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1569

With the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Asian-focused racism and

hate crimes have surgedin the United States (Croucher et al., 2020). The rise in anti-Asian dis-

crimination during COVID-19 mostly targeted East Asians (Tessler et al., 2020). These anti-Asian

sentiments and deep-rooted false stereotypes have caused many Asian Americans to witness and

experience various forms of discrimination and injustice, from verbal harassment to physical

attacks and vandalism targeting those of East Asian appearance and descent (Melendez, 2020).

For Asian American youth, just like other racial and ethnic minority youth, discrimination

is a normative experience that frequently occurs in school contexts, particularly in peer contexts

and racial messages from teachers, staff, and class (Kiang et al., 2016). Experiences of racism

and discrimination have been consistently linked with physical health risks, psychological dis-

tress, poor academic outcomes, and low self-esteem among adolescents (Kiang et al., 2019;

Yip, 2016). Studies also demonstrate an association between perceptions of discrimination and

ethnic identity (Kiang et al., 2016). For example, experiences of racism and stereotypes were

associated with youth distancing themselves from their cultural heritage and hindering youth’s

exploration of what it means to be a member of their ethnic group (Yip, 2016).

The integrative model (García Coll et al., 1996) emphasizes the role of sociocultural con-

texts (e.g., social position, social stratification) and minority experiences (e.g., discrimination,

stereotypes) on youth outcomes. The context of racism and discrimination shapes the ways

caregivers utilize family racial–ethnic socialization (RES). Families engage in RES to teach the

values, information, and perspectives about racial–ethnic group membership and race relations

to alleviate the cost of their minority statuses on youth’s developmental outcomes (García Coll

et al., 1996; Hughes et al., 2006). For example, Asian American caregivers may engage in dis-

cussions with their children relevant to the current social context to provide strategies to survive

in the face of discrimination. These discussions shape youth’s understandings of what it means

to be a member of one’s racial–ethnic group, their views toward their own and other’s race and

ethnicity, and systems of social stratification associated with racism and discrimination

(Atkin & Ahn, 2022; García Coll et al., 1996).

Prior research shows that Asian American parents tend to minimize issues of race in their

RES practices (Garrod & Kilkenny, 2007; Pahlke et al., 2012); however, even less is known

about how the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-Asian sentiments may have contributed to shap-

ing family RES and the degrees of change in discussions surrounding their own ethnicities,

other ethnicities, living in the United States as Asian Americans, racism and discrimination in

the United States, and racism and discrimination against Asian Americans. Furthermore, these

discussions (i.e., about one’s race and ethnicity, other races and ethnicities, living as Asian

Americans, racism and discrimination in the United States, and racism and discrimination

toward Asian Americans) may unfold distinctly based on the racial composition of schools and

neighborhoods, as a family’s ecological context critically contributes to how caregivers endorse

parenting beliefs and practices (Juang et al., 2016). To this end, the present study employs the

integrative model (García Coll et al., 1996) to understand the degrees of change in East Asian

American families’racial discussions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Racialization of Asian Americans

Racialization is the basis for differentiation, and it involves ongoing practices that attach racial

meanings to people through those of social dominance and power (Omi & Winant, 1986).

Racialization of the COVID-19 pandemic adds to the longstanding history of Asian American

discrimination in the United States, tracing back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. A large

body of scholarship maintains that Asian Americans considered not fully “American,”unlike

Americans of European descent, are still racialized as perpetual foreigners and yellow perils,

and, at best, labeled as model minorities (J. C. Lee & Zhou, 2020).

1570 FAMILY RELATIONS