Perceived COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination predicts post traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Asian and Asian American young adults

•Sixty-eight percent of Asian and Asian American (A/AA) young adults reported that they or their family experienced COVID-19-related discrimination and approximately 15% of respondents reported verbal or physical assaults.•Increases in COVID-19-related discrimination were significantly associated with an increased level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among A/AA young adults.•Identification of mental health symptoms and dissemination and provision of culturally grounded PTSD treatment for those A/AA young adults who suffer are urgent. This study investigates the prevalence of COVID-19-related discrimination and the extent to which COVID-19-related discrimination is associated with mental health symptoms among Asians and Asian American (A/AA) young adults during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES), a cross-sectional online survey conducted in the U.S. Out of 1,001 respondents, 211 A/AA young adults were analyzed for this study. Sixty-eight percent of A/AA young adults reported that they or their family have experienced COVID-19-related discrimination and approximately 15% of respondents reported verbal or physical assaults. After controlling for covariates including predisposing factors, lifetime discrimination, and pre-existing mental health diagnoses, COVID-19-related discrimination was significantly associated with an increased level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not of anxiety or depression. Our study results suggest that COVID-19-related discrimination may contribute to PTSD symptoms among A/AA young adults. This was cross-sectional data which was collected through online and self-report rather than clinical evaluation. This finding adds greater urgency to develop and implement policy- and individual-level interventions to reduce race-based discrimination among A/AA.