Culprits or Victims? Social Media Use, Mediated Ethnic Blame, and Asian American Mental Health During COVID-19

The present study aims to understand whether and how social media use negatively affected Asian Americans’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We build on previous research on media framing, stigma, and stereotyping to understand whether social media messages about Asians as culprits to blame for the pandemic, direct experiences of racism, or media coverage of victims of anti-Asian hate crimes led to mental health outcomes for this racial group. We use an online survey of Asian American participants (N = 527) conducted in 2020 to test the role of (a) mediated ethnic blame (MEB), (b) direct stigma, and (c) indirect stigma in explaining the relationship between social media use and mental health among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results demonstrate that mediated ethnic blame, but not direct or indirect stigma experiences, is associated with Asian Americans’ mental health. Implications for media framing, health communication, and journalism are discussed.