Asian American & Pacific Islander SGM Emerging Adult Mental Health: Current Trends and Next Steps

BACKGROUND: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) sexual and gender minority (SGM) young and emerging adults are an especially high-risk group to consider in mental health research, holding multiple marginalized identities & report discrimination based on race/ethnicity & immigration status at double the rate of overall SGM youth. There is a need for extensive national studies that capture the experience of AAPI SGM youth to comprehensively elucidate the mental health burden on this often-overlooked population in the COVID-19 era. This study aims to describe the national landscape of AAPI SGM university student mental health & treatment usage. METHODS: We data from the Healthy Minds Study, conducted between September 2021-May 2022 (n = 89,255) across 133 campuses in the United States. We used bivariate analyses & cross-sectional logistic regression models to evaluate mental health symptoms, risk/protective factors, & treatment utilization across AAPI SGM students. RESULTS: Preliminary findings indicate that 78% of AAPI SGM respondents report the presence of one or more positive screens for depression, anxiety, eating disorder, suicidal ideation, or non-suicidal self-injury. Among these students, approximately 57% report utilizing therapy or psychotropic medication. Experiences of discrimination & financial stress were the strongest correlates of mental health symptoms. Self-reported experiences of discrimination based on race, culture, & sexual orientation were associated with higher odds of treatment utilization for AAPI SGM domestic students but not for international students. CONCLUSIONS: The data underscore the need to consider the adequacy of current approaches in supporting AAPI SGM mental health, as well as unique ways to foster protective institutional & intrapersonal factors & increase investments to culturally responsive, gender-affirming treatment & prevention programs that address mental health disparities already looming in minoritized communities.