# Moving Upstream: Understanding Racism, Firearm Injury Risks, and Resiliency Among Asian Americans

> **NIH NIH RF1** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $2,162,049

## Abstract

Abstract
Anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the risk of Asian Americans being subjected
to racial violence and discrimination, in conjunction with the long-existing racism at both structural and personal
levels. We proposed a timely study in response to RFA-MD-21-004– Understanding and Addressing the
Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01), as our
preliminary data provided evidence that there has been a sharp rise of firearm purchases by Asian people
nationwide due to increased experiences of racism/discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Racism, a
form of violence, and its influence on firearm possession, mental distress symptoms and substance use may
put Asian Americans at elevated risk of firearm injury and mortality, stressing the urgent need to understand
their risks and resilience-promotive factors against racism. The socio-ecological framework, Resilience Theory,
and empirical firearm research suggest understanding the links between racism and firearm risks requires
assessment of multiple-level factors and use of a strength-based approach. The objective of this study is to
employ mixed methods, including focus groups and longitudinal surveys, integrated with Geographic
Information System to investigate multi-level risks and protective factors of firearm injury risks, identify
correlates of neighborhood-level structural racism and discrimination (SRD), and understand the mechanisms
between these factors and firearm outcomes. Our goals are: 1) Use focus groups to identify Asian Americans'
perspectives on SRD and individual-, interpersonal-, and community level promotive factors and inform survey
instrument development; 2) Conduct three waves of annual, longitudinal surveys with a sample of 1500
nationally-representative Asian Americans to examine the mechanisms by which racism increases firearm risk
through increased substance use, mental distress, and firearm behavior; 3) Identify distinct profiles with
selected neighborhood-level SRD indicators that will be influential to Asian American communities and
examine their associations with firearm injury risk; and 4) Examine whether cumulative promotive factors
mitigate the risk effects from racism among Asian Americans. The expected outcomes of the project will
include improving understanding of contextual factors associated with firearm injury and mortality and
identifying multiple levels of promotive factors that may mitigate the negative effects of risk exposure specific to
Asian Americans. Findings will provide a solid basis to inform evidence-based interventions that prevent
firearm injury risks involving Asian Americans. The project is also expected to have a positive impact on
addressing health disparities as a result of SRD and individually experienced racism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10474705
- **Project number:** 1RF1NR020753-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Hsing-Fang Hsieh
- **Activity code:** RF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $2,162,049
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10474705

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10474705, Moving Upstream: Understanding Racism, Firearm Injury Risks, and Resiliency Among Asian Americans (1RF1NR020753-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10474705. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*