The Role of Hate Crime Victimization, Fear of Victimization, and Vicarious Victimization in COVID-19-Related Depression

• Author: Marin R. Wenger,Brendan Lantz,Gabriella Gallardo
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548221104738
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2022, Vol. 49, No. 12, December 2022, 1746 –1762.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548221104738

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2022 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1746

THE ROLE OF HATE CRIME VICTIMIZATION,

FEAR OF VICTIMIZATION, AND VICARIOUS

VICTIMIZATION IN COVID-19-RELATED

DEPRESSION

MARIN R. WENGER

BRENDAN LANTZ

GABRIELLA GALLARDO

Florida State University

As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread and continued, much attention has been focused on the physical costs of the virus.

That said, early research has also demonstrated an impact on mental health, including depression. At the same time, there has

been a documented increase in hate crime victimization during the pandemic. Importantly, hate crime victimization—and fear

of victimization—has also been demonstrated to increase depressive symptoms. Following this, we posit that hate crime

victimization, and fear of victimization, may play a significant role in COVID-19-related depressive symptoms. We test these

hypotheses using results from a sample of 3,117 participants who responded to a survey administered in May 2020. Results

indicate that not only do a higher perceived personal risk of COVID and experiences with hate crime predict higher depres-

sive symptoms but that hate crime experiences mediate the relationship between perceived risk of COVID and depressive

symptoms.

Keywords: hate crime; depressive symptoms; COVID-19; victimization

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic by the

World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Since this declaration, the pan-

demic has continued to spread, infecting over 250 million worldwide and resulting in the

deaths of more than 5.4 million people (WHO, 2022). While the pandemic is still ongoing

at the time of this writing, the deleterious impacts of the pandemic will likely continue long

after the disease itself has subsided. Fear of the disease, changes to individual plans for the

future, financial losses, mandatory lockdowns, and a host of other factors are likely to con-

tinue for some time and may have a significant negative impact on individual mental health,

exacerbating anxiety and depression (Bueno-Notivol et al., 2021; Ettman et al., 2020).

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding in the form of a Collaborative Collision

Grant from the Florida State University Council on Research and Creativity. Correspondence concerning this

article should be addressed to Marin R. Wenger, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State

University, 112 S. Copeland St., Tallahassee, FL 32306; e-mail: mwenger@fsu.edu.

1104738CJBXXX10.1177/00938548221104738Criminal Justice and BehaviorWenger et al. / Hate Crime Victimization, COVID-19, and Depression

research-article2022

Wenger et al. / HATE CRIME VICTIMIZATION, COVID-19, AND DEPRESSION 1747

Concurrent with the growth and spread of the pandemic has been the spread of fear-related

bigotry and prejudice. As the virus initially spread, prominent political figures, including for-

mer President Donald Trump, blatantly ignored WHO guidelines for avoiding disease-related

stigmatization and disparagingly referred to the disease as the “Wuhan virus,” the “Chinese

virus,” and the “Kung Flu.” Recognizing the potential political legitimization effect—and

other negative impacts—of this rhetoric, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a

warning regarding an anticipated increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans. Others

have suggested that these effects are likely to reverberate to other racial and ethnic groups as

well, as pandemic-related fears serve to exacerbate in-group/out-group divisions and facilitate

prejudices (e.g., Van Bavel et al., 2020). Indeed, early research has indicated that reported hate

crimes, which are criminal offenses motivated, in whole or in part, by bias or prejudice against

an individual because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other group charac-

teristic, have been occurring at an alarmingly high level during the COVID-19 pandemic

(Gover et al., 2020; Lantz & Wenger, 2020; Tessler et al., 2020). Even those who do not expe-

rience hate crime victimization frequently report that they know someone who has been vic-

timized or report changing their own behavior to avoid victimization (Lantz & Wenger, 2020).

Unfortunately, prior research has also demonstrated a robust relationship between hate crime

victimization—both direct and vicarious—and depression as well (e.g., Bell & Perry, 2015;

Craig-Henderson & Sloan, 2003; Herek et al., 1997).

In summary, a growing body of research has indicated a direct association between the

COVID-19 pandemic and (a) reported mental health issues, including depression and (b)

bias-motivated victimization. At the same time, a separate body of research has demon-

strated a similar significant association between hate crime victimization and negative men-

tal health symptoms. If both the pandemic and hate crimes are independently related to

negative mental health symptoms, but the pandemic has itself also led to increases in hate

crime, it follows that hate crime victimization and fears of such victimization play an impor-

tant role in explaining and exacerbating the mental health consequences of the pandemic.

Yet, these relationships have not been examined jointly. As such, in the current study, we

seek to address this gap by considering the joint relationship between the COVID-19 pan-

demic, hate crime victimization, and individual mental health. Specifically, the present

research examines three primary research questions. First, are concerns regarding the pan-

demic independently related to self-reported depressive symptoms? Second, are experi-

ences with hate crime victimization and fear of hate crime victimization similarly related to

depressive symptoms? Finally, do concerns about hate crime victimization partially account

for, or exacerbate, any of the observed negative health consequences of the pandemic?

Research Question 1: Are concerns regarding the pandemic independently related to self-

reported depressive symptoms?

Research Question 2: Are experiences with hate crime victimization and fear of hate crime

victimization similarly related to depressive symptoms?

Research Question 3: Do concerns about hate crime victimization partially account for, or

exacerbate, any of the observed negative health consequences of the pandemic?

BACKGROUND

Exposure to uncontrollable events has often been linked to depression (Kendler et al., 2003;

Kendler & Gardner, 2016; Seligman, 1972). Prior research on disease outbreaks, in particular,

has indicated that such events are associated with increased levels of depression (Hawryluck