Racism,stress and health in Asian Americans: A structural equation analysis of mediation and social support group differences

The buffering effect of social support on the negative effects of racism exposure on health outcomes has been mixed in prior studies regarding Asian Americans. Based on the stress-coping framework and using structural equation modelling (SEM) methods, we tested a theoretical model portraying simultaneous mediational paths from racism exposure to general physical and mental health through racism-related stress. Bootstrap analysis was used to test the indirect effects present in the model. Additionally, multi-group SEM analysis was conducted to investigate the moderation effect of social support from family and friends on the paths in the model. The sample consisted of 310 Asian American adults who completed an online survey. The results from the two-step SEM analysis and bootstrap analysis supported the theoretical model—racism exposure can simultaneously have a negative indirect effect on Asian Americans' physical and mental health via racism-related stress. Multi-group SEM analysis showed that there were no differences in model path coefficients based on having varying levels of social support from friends or family.