Financial concerns and psychological distress among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic: the moderating role of benefit finding and received pay

TL;DR

This study explores how financial worries affect mental health in Asian Americans during the pandemic, and how benefit finding and income may help reduce distress.

Contribution

The study identifies the combined protective role of benefit finding and received pay in mitigating psychological distress due to financial concerns.

Findings

Financial concerns were linked to increased psychological distress among Asian Americans.

Higher levels of benefit finding were associated with lower psychological distress.

The combination of benefit finding and received pay provided the most protection against distress from financial concerns.

Abstract

The potential buffering role of benefit finding, a cognitive and behavior adaptation process, in the relationship between financial concerns and psychological distress is not well understood among Asian American populations. Our study examined how financial concerns impacted Asian Americans’ mental health, specifically in the presence of benefit finding and received pay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survey-weighted data from the 2021 Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander COVID-19 Needs Assessment Project was analyzed to test the associations between financial concerns and psychological distress among Asian American adults 18 years or older (unweighted N = 3,152). Multivariable linear regression models included an interaction term for benefit finding, financial concerns, and received pay to test the moderation effect of benefit finding on psychological distress.

Reporting financial concerns increased the likelihood of psychological distress (β: 1.24, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.56). Asian Americans who reported greater levels of benefit finding had lower psychological distress, but benefit finding alone did not moderate the relationship between financial concerns and psychological distress. However, having both greater levels of benefit finding and received pay protected Asian American participants the most from psychological distress when experiencing financial concerns.

Our findings suggest that benefit finding and received pay combined may have important implications for interventions and policy-level changes targeting financial concerns among Asian Americans. Future research should explore the relationships between benefit finding and health outcomes over the life course, other protective coping responses for Asian Americans, and potential differences by Asian ethnicity or specific subgroups.

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