This story was written by Megan Hanks and first appeared on news.umbc.edu

As the COVID-19 outbreak originating in China has spread to populations across all continents except Antarctica, racism and discrimination against Chinese-American people have also increased. A team of researchers from UMBC and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) just received a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant from the National Science Foundation to examine this intensified discrimination. They are also researching Chinese-American families’ coping strategies.

This research is led by PI Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology at UMBC. Her co-investigators are Shimei Pan, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, and Cixin Wang, assistant professor of school psychology at UMD. Their study, “RAPID: Influences of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak on Racial Discrimination, Identity Development and Socialization,” is the one of first NSF research awards granted to examine the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Cheah, Pan, and Wang will collect data on public opinion, the social climate, and the experiences of Chinese-American families. They seek to capture the current moment and make it possible for future researchers to study this phenomenon in the longer term.

“The negative impact of infectious diseases on psychological health is understudied but highly significant, especially for minority groups linked to the disease through social group categorization,” says Cheah. She explains, “The results from this study will significantly contribute to our understanding of risk and resilience processes among parents and children under conditions of an acute but prolonged health and social threat.”

Understanding the impact 

As social scientists, Cheah and Wang will conduct focus groups and surveys to understand how various forms of racial discrimination connected to the COVID-19 outbreak are impacting families, particularly the identity development and adjustment of Chinese-American children. After the initial research phase, they will complete follow-up research six to nine months later to learn how parents have helped socialize their children and offered coping strategies around issues of race, identity, and psychosocial adjustment, in response to discrimination.

Pan, a computer scientist, will lead the analysis of outbreak-related Twitter posts to understand how public opinion, including anxiety and discriminatory attitudes, change as the outbreak intensifies or slows. Pan will apply large-scale social media analytics to study Twitter data from late 2019 onward, to ensure she captures posts from the moment the COVID-19 outbreak began.

The research is significant to Pan on a personal level, as a Chinese American and a parent. “I am aware of the related events and sentiments expressed in the news. As a parent to a Chinese American teenage son, I wonder how this experience will influence his identity formation now and as an adult,” she shares.

This project will also provide graduate and undergraduate students with an opportunity to conduct culturally-sensitive research with racial and ethnic minority families using multi-method and interdisciplinary approaches. 

“As a researcher focusing on bullying and mental health, I have seen and heard about discrimination towards Chinese-American and other Asian-American students, and increased anxiety related to COVID-19,” says Wang. “We aim to study the unfolding outbreak and related discrimination against Chinese Americans and other Asian populations to identify specific ways to promote resilience and support children and families during this challenging time.”

Cheah values the opportunity to do research that will immediately impact an urgent real-world issue, and also have a lasting impact on communities. She notes, “Knowledge from this RAPID grant will help educators, health care providers, and policymakers to proactively  support targeted marginalized groups and the larger public during future emergency events.”

Banner image: The coronavirus. Image by Alachua County, used under Public Domain Mark 1.0.

Per Uniform Guidance (200.474) travel costs charged directly to federal awards must be consistent with UMBC’s travel policy.  Charges are considered reasonable and allowable if there is consistency in charging to both the sponsored award and non-sponsored projects and the traveler is in travel status on official business of the university.  The below are excerpts from UMBC Travel Policy VIII-11.00.01:

·         Airline bookings should be made using the least expensive logical fare.

Ø  The UMBC requirement to purchase the least expensive logical fare and Uniform Guidance specifically stating “costs in excess of the basic least expensive unrestricted class is unallowable” precludes travelers from purchasing unrestricted airfare. 

·         The cost of flight insurance is not reimbursable.

Ø  Flight insurance may be purchased at the traveler’s expense but is not considered an allowable charge to a sponsored award.

·         If the traveler must change thier plans for the convenience of the campus or if changes are the result of a personal emergency, the campus will pay any penalty fees incurred. (Reference USM BOR policy VIII-11.00-1.2) Any change caused by a personal emergency requires a memorandum from the next higher authority and must be approved by the Dean or Vice President.

Ø  Cancellations/changes by the airline or conference sponsor are considered changes for the convenience of the campus.  Any fees resulting from this change/cancellation would be an allowable charge to a sponsored award. 

Ø  The occurrence of these charges cannot result in the need for additional funding requests to the sponsor.  The scope of work must be able to be completed within the approved sponsor budget provided.

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