Perceived Racial Discrimination, Depression, and Coping: A Study of Southeast Asian Refugees in Canada

TLDR

The study situates its findings within cultural and situational contexts. The study tests whether perceived racial discrimination is linked to depression among Southeast Asian refugees in Canada and how coping and ethnic identity moderate this relationship. Data were collected via personal interviews with 647 Southeast Asian refugees in Canada. Discrimination was associated with higher depression, but forbearance mitigated this link, especially among refugees with stronger ethnic identity, while confrontation had no significant effect.

Abstract

Using data obtained from personal interviews with 647 Southeast Asian refugees in Canada, this study tests hypotheses regarding both the association between perceived racial discrimination and depression, and the roles of coping and ethnic identity in conditioning the nature of the discrimination-depression relation. Refugees who reported that they had experienced racial discrimination had higher depression levels than their counterparts who reported no such experiences. Responding to discrimination through confrontation was not significantly associated with depression. Study findings support the effectiveness of forbearance in diminishing the strength of the association between discrimination and depression. The moderating effect of forbearance was conditioned by the level of ethnic identity: The beneficial effect of forbearance was significantly greater among those holding stronger ethnic identification. Cultural and situational interpretations of the findings are presented.