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Nguyen TT, Merchant JS, Yue X, Mane H, Wei H, Huang D, Gowda KN, Makres K, Najib C, Nghiem HT, Li D, Drew LB, Hswen Y, Criss S, Allen AM, Nguyen QC. A Decade of Tweets: Visualizing Racial Sentiments Towards Minoritized Groups in the United States Between 2011 and 2021. Epidemiology 2024; 35:51-59. [PMID: 37756290 PMCID: PMC10683970 DOI: 10.1097/ede.0000000000001671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research has demonstrated the negative impact of racism on health, yet the measurement of racial sentiment remains challenging. This article provides practical guidance on using social media data for measuring public sentiment. METHODS We describe the main steps of such research, including data collection, data cleaning, binary sentiment analysis, and visualization of findings. We randomly sampled 55,844,310 publicly available tweets from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2021 using Twitter's Application Programming Interface. We restricted analyses to US tweets in English using one or more 90 race-related keywords. We used a Support Vector Machine, a supervised machine learning model, for sentiment analysis. RESULTS The proportion of tweets referencing racially minoritized groups that were negative increased at the county, state, and national levels, with a 16.5% increase at the national level from 2011 to 2021. Tweets referencing Black and Middle Eastern people consistently had the highest proportion of negative sentiment compared with all other groups. Stratifying temporal trends by racial and ethnic groups revealed unique patterns reflecting historical events specific to each group, such as the killing of George Floyd regarding sentiment of posts referencing Black people, discussions of the border crisis near the 2018 midterm elections and anti-Latinx sentiment, and the emergence of COVID-19 and anti-Asian sentiment. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the utility of social media data as a quantitative means to measure racial sentiment over time and place. This approach can be extended to a range of public health topics to investigate how changes in social and cultural norms impact behaviors and policy.A supplemental digital video is available at http://links.lww.com/EDE/C91.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thu T. Nguyen
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Junaid S. Merchant
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Xiaohe Yue
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Heran Mane
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Hanxue Wei
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Dina Huang
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Krishik N. Gowda
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Katrina Makres
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Crystal Najib
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Huy T. Nghiem
- Department of Computer Science, Computation Linguistics and Information Processing, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
| | - Dapeng Li
- Department of Geography and the Environment, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
| | - Laura B. Drew
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
| | - Yulin Hswen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Shaniece Criss
- Department of Health Sciences, Furman University, Greenville, SC
| | - Amani M. Allen
- Divisions of Community Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
| | - Quynh C. Nguyen
- From the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
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MICHAELS ELIK, LAM‐HINE TRACY, NGUYEN THUT, GEE GILBERTC, ALLEN AMANIM. The Water Surrounding the Iceberg: Cultural Racism and Health Inequities. Milbank Q 2023; 101:768-814. [PMID: 37435779 PMCID: PMC10509530 DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.12662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Policy Points Cultural racism-or the widespread values that privilege and protect Whiteness and White social and economic power-permeates all levels of society, uplifts other dimensions of racism, and contributes to health inequities. Overt forms of racism, such as racial hate crimes, represent only the "tip of the iceberg," whereas structural and institutional racism represent its base. This paper advances cultural racism as the "water surrounding the iceberg," allowing it to float while obscuring its base. Considering the fundamental role of cultural racism is needed to advance health equity. CONTEXT Cultural racism is a pervasive social toxin that surrounds all other dimensions of racism to produce and maintain racial health inequities. Yet, cultural racism has received relatively little attention in the public health literature. The purpose of this paper is to 1) provide public health researchers and policymakers with a clearer understanding of what cultural racism is, 2) provide an understanding of how it operates in conjunction with the other dimensions of racism to produce health inequities, and 3) offer directions for future research and interventions on cultural racism. METHODS We conducted a nonsystematic, multidisciplinary review of theory and empirical evidence that conceptualizes, measures, and documents the consequences of cultural racism for social and health inequities. FINDINGS Cultural racism can be defined as a culture of White supremacy, which values, protects, and normalizes Whiteness and White social and economic power. This ideological system operates at the level of our shared social consciousness and is expressed in the language, symbols, and media representations of dominant society. Cultural racism surrounds and bolsters structural, institutional, personally mediated, and internalized racism, undermining health through material, cognitive/affective, biologic, and behavioral mechanisms across the life course. CONCLUSIONS More time, research, and funding is needed to advance measurement, elucidate mechanisms, and develop evidence-based policy interventions to reduce cultural racism and promote health equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- ELI K. MICHAELS
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public HealthUniversity of California
| | - TRACY LAM‐HINE
- Division of Epidemiology & Population HealthStanford University School of Medicine
| | | | - GILBERT C. GEE
- Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public HealthUniversity of California
| | - AMANI M. ALLEN
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public HealthUniversity of California
- Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public HealthUniversity of California
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Keating L, Kaur A, Mendieta M, Gleason C, Basello G, Roth A, Brondolo E. Racial discrimination and core executive functions. Stress Health 2022; 38:615-621. [PMID: 34799970 DOI: 10.1002/smi.3116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Researchers have theorized that exposure to racial discrimination may impair executive functioning. The limited existing data broadly support this notion and suggest that discrimination may exert acute and persistent effects on executive functioning, potentially because of the cognitive demands associated with responding to discrimination. However, it is unclear if discrimination is differentially associated with different core executive functions. Further, the effects may vary depending on the timing of exposure, as recent or acute exposure to discrimination may operate on executive functioning through different mechanisms than exposure across the lifetime. The current study evaluates the relations of both recent and lifetime exposure to racial discrimination to three core executive functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory) using a racially and ethnically diverse sample (n = 319). In fully adjusted models, recent discrimination was negatively associated with cognitive flexibility and working memory but not with inhibitory control. These data are consistent with the broader literature on acute stress effects on core executive functions and may have implications for understanding the effects of discrimination on health. Further research is warranted to understand the course and mechanisms of effects of lifetime and recent discrimination on core executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Keating
- Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, USA
| | - Amandeep Kaur
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California - Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Miguel Mendieta
- Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, USA
| | - Colleen Gleason
- Department of Psychology, St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, USA
| | - Gina Basello
- Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Jamaica, New York, USA
| | - Alan Roth
- Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Jamaica, New York, USA
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Wesson P, Hswen Y, Valdes G, Stojanovski K, Handley MA. Risks and Opportunities to Ensure Equity in the Application of Big Data Research in Public Health. Annu Rev Public Health 2022; 43:59-78. [PMID: 34871504 PMCID: PMC8983486 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-051920-110928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The big data revolution presents an exciting frontier to expand public health research, broadening the scope of research and increasing the precision of answers. Despite these advances, scientists must be vigilant against also advancing potential harms toward marginalized communities. In this review, we provide examples in which big data applications have (unintentionally) perpetuated discriminatory practices, while also highlighting opportunities for big data applications to advance equity in public health. Here, big data is framed in the context of the five Vs (volume, velocity, veracity, variety, and value), and we propose a sixth V, virtuosity, which incorporates equity and justice frameworks. Analytic approaches to improving equity are presented using social computational big data, fairness in machine learning algorithms, medical claims data, and data augmentation as illustrations. Throughout, we emphasize the biasing influence of data absenteeism and positionality and conclude with recommendations for incorporating an equity lens into big data research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Wesson
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Yulin Hswen
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Gilmer Valdes
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Kristefer Stojanovski
- Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Social, Behavioral and Population Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Margaret A Handley
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, San Francisco, California, USA
- Partnerships for Research in Implementation Science for Equity (PRISE), University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
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5
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Michaels EK, Board C, Mujahid MS, Riddell CA, Chae DH, Johnson RC, Allen AM. Area-level racial prejudice and health: A systematic review. Health Psychol 2022; 41:211-224. [PMID: 35254858 PMCID: PMC8930473 DOI: 10.1037/hea0001141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been growing interest in "moving beyond the individual" to measure area-level racism as a social determinant of health. Much of this work has aggregated racial prejudice data collected at the individual-level to the area-level. OBJECTIVE As this is a rapidly emerging area of research, we conducted a systematic literature review to describe evidence of the relationship between area-level racial prejudice and health, whether results differed by race/ethnicity, and to characterize key conceptual and methodological considerations to guide future research. METHOD We searched four interdisciplinary databases for US-based, peer-reviewed articles measuring area level racial prejudice by aggregating individual-level indicators of racial prejudice and examining associations with mental or physical health outcome(s). Data extraction followed PRISMA guidelines and also included theory and conceptualization, pathways to health, and strengths and limitations. RESULTS Fourteen of 14,632 identified articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Health outcomes spanned all-cause (n = 4) and cause-specific (n = 4) mortality, birth outcomes (n = 4), cardiovascular outcomes (n = 2), mental health (n = 1), and self-rated health (n = 1). All studies found a positive association between area-level racial prejudice and adverse health outcomes among racial/ethnic minoritized groups, with four studies also showing a similar association among Whites. Engagement with formal theory was limited and exposure conceptualization was mixed. Methodological considerations included unmeasured confounding and trade-offs between generalizability, self-censorship, and specificity of measurement. CONCLUSIONS Future research should continue to develop the conceptual and methodological rigor of this work and test hypotheses to inform evidence-based interventions to advance population health and reduce racial health inequities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli K. Michaels
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Christine Board
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Mahasin S. Mujahid
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Corinne A. Riddell
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - David H. Chae
- Department of Global Community Health & Behavioral Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
| | | | - Amani M. Allen
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
- Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
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Barajas-Gonzalez RG, Ursache A, Kamboukos D, Huang KY, Dawson-McClure S, Urcuyo A, Huang TJJ, Brotman LM. Parental perceived immigration threat and children's mental health, self-regulation and executive functioning in pre-Kindergarten. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY 2021; 92:176-189. [PMID: 34968118 PMCID: PMC9132160 DOI: 10.1037/ort0000591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Many children in immigrant households endure unique stressors shaped by national, state, and local immigration policies and enforcement activity in the United States. Qualitative studies find that during times of heightened immigration enforcement, children as young as 3 years of age show signs of behavioral distress related to national anti-immigrant sentiment and the possibility of losing a parent. Using multiple sources of data from 168 racially and ethnically diverse families of children in pre-Kindergarten, the present study examined variability in perceived levels of immigration enforcement threat by parental immigrant status and ethnicity. This study examined associations between immigration enforcement threat and child mental health, self-regulation, and executive functioning and whether parent immigrant status or child gender moderates these associations. We found substantial variability in perceived immigration threat, with immigrant parents and Latinx parents reporting significantly greater levels of immigration threat compared to nonimmigrant parents and non-Latinx parents. Immigration enforcement threat was associated with greater child separation anxiety and overanxious behaviors, and lower self-regulation among boys and girls and among children of immigrant and U.S.-born parents. In contrast to our hypothesis, immigration enforcement threat was associated with higher self-regulation according to independent assessor ratings. Educators and healthcare providers working with young children from immigrant and Latinx households should be aware of the disproportionate stress experienced by immigrant and Latinx families due to a xenophobic sociopolitical climate marked by heightened immigration enforcement threat and racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Anya Urcuyo
- Center for Early Childhood Health and Development
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7
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Hswen Y, Xu X, Hing A, Hawkins JB, Brownstein JS, Gee GC. Association of "#covid19" Versus "#chinesevirus" With Anti-Asian Sentiments on Twitter: March 9-23, 2020. Am J Public Health 2021; 111:956-964. [PMID: 33734838 PMCID: PMC8034032 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2021.306154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Objectives. To examine the extent to which the phrases, "COVID-19" and "Chinese virus" were associated with anti-Asian sentiments.Methods. Data were collected from Twitter's Application Programming Interface, which included the hashtags "#covid19" or "#chinesevirus." We analyzed tweets from March 9 to 23, 2020, corresponding to the week before and the week after President Donald J. Trump's tweet with the phrase, "Chinese Virus." Our analysis focused on 1 273 141 hashtags.Results. One fifth (19.7%) of the 495 289 hashtags with #covid19 showed anti-Asian sentiment, compared with half (50.4%) of the 777 852 hashtags with #chinesevirus. When comparing the week before March 16, 2020, to the week after, there was a significantly greater increase in anti-Asian hashtags associated with #chinesevirus compared with #covid19 (P < .001).Conclusions. Our data provide new empirical evidence supporting recommendations to use the less-stigmatizing term "COVID-19," instead of "Chinese virus."
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Hswen
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
| | - Xiang Xu
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
| | - Anna Hing
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
| | - Jared B Hawkins
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
| | - John S Brownstein
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
| | - Gilbert C Gee
- Yulin Hswen is with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco; and Computational Epidemiology Lab, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Xiang Xu is with the Department of Statistics, Boston University, Boston. Anna Hing and Gilbert C. Gee are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles. Jared B. Hawkins and John S. Brownstein are with the Innovation Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston
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