Social Support and Acculturation in Chinese International Students

Background and Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese international students(CISs) experienced increased depression and anxiety associated with a combination of unique and universal COVID-19-related stressors. Among these factors, discrimination against Chinese is especially alarming. Therefore, studying correlates of distress including the association between discrimination and distress and factors intensifying or attenuating this link has important implications.Design: We adopted a cross-sectional self-report design.Methods: Our study compared depression and anxiety between CISs (N = 381) and Chinese students in Chinese colleges (CSCCs; N = 306) and examined correlates of distress and, in particular, the association between perceived discrimination and distress as well as moderators on this link within CISs.Results: Compared to CSCCs, CISs reported greater depression and anxiety. Depression was associated with being female, older, non-heterosexual, discrimination, coping inflexibility, low social support, and low satisfaction with online learning. Anxiety was associated with being female, older, heterosexual, discrimination, coping inflexibility, low social support, and low satisfaction with online learning. High perceived social support and being heterosexual weakened the association between discrimination and distress (anxiety and depression). Conclusions: Our study underscored the impact of the pandemic and related discrimination on CISs and highlighted individual differences that may warrant attention.Keywords: COVID-19, Chinese international students, psychopathology, perceived discrimination, intersectionality, minority stress

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Prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students in US colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

10.31234/osf.io/mwp23 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Chenyang Lin ◽

Yuxin Tong ◽

Yaying Bai ◽

Zixi Zhao ◽

Wenxiang Quan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

International Students ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Associated Factors ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Psychological Support ◽

Chinese International Students ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Remote Learning

Previous studies showed that the COVID-19 outbreak increased the levels of depression and anxiety in heterogeneous populations. This study examines the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students enrolled in US universities during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the associated factors, including habits, social and psychological support, sleep quality, and remote learning. Participants were recruited with snowball sampling through 21 Chinese international student associations in US universities. The survey consisted of demographic questions, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and self-constructed questions on academic performance, financial concerns, use of social media, physical exercise, and psychological support. Cut-off scores of 10 were used for both PHQ-9 and GAD-7 to determine the binary outcomes of depression and anxiety, respectively. Bivariant analyses and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the associated factors. Among 1881 participants, we found a prevalence of depression at 24.5% and that of anxiety at 20.7%. Multiple correlates—including recent exposure to traumatic event(s), pandemic-related financial concerns, workload, social support, remote learning, willingness to seek professional help, and sleep quality—were identified. It is critical for future studies to further investigate this student population and for universities to provide more flexible learning options and more access to psychological services.

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Perceived Social Support and Psychological Well-Being of International Students: The Mediating Effects of Resiliency and Spirituality

Asian Journal of University Education ◽

10.24191/ajue.v17i3.14502 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 220

Author(s):

Li Yue Qi ◽

Samsilah Roslan ◽

Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

International Students ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

Well Being ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Chinese International Students ◽

Host Countries ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

The Relationship

Abstract: International students are a significant resource for many host countries because they increase cultural diversity within the community, offer talent and innovation to universities, and make notable economic contributions. Many studies, however, have shown that international students have lower psychological well-being. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the associations between psychological well-being as a dependent variable and perceived social support as an independent variable, and test the mediating roles of resiliency and spirituality in the link between perceived social support and psychological well-being. This is a cross-sectional study with a random sampling method. A total of 300 Chinese international students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) participated in this study and completed four questionnaires, namely the Perceived Social Support scale, Psychological Well-being scale, the Spiritual Values scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience scale. The results from PLS-SEM showed that greater levels of social support are associated with greater levels of psychological well-being. Resiliency and spirituality partially mediated the relationship between social support and psychological well-being. The findings of this study not only revealed an association between perceived social support and psychological well-being among Chinese international students in Malaysia but also expanded our knowledge of the mediating roles of resilience and spirituality in the relationship. Keywords: International students, Perceived social support, Psychological well-being, Resiliency, Spirituality.

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Social Support and Acculturative Stress in Chinese International Students

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e711702011-001 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Michalis Poulakis ◽

Dave Bertram ◽

Ekta Kumar ◽

Betsy Shaw-Elsasser

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

International Students ◽

Acculturative Stress ◽

Chinese International Students

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How can Chinese international students’ host-national contact contribute to social connectedness, social support and reduced prejudice in the mainstream society? Testing a moderated mediation model

International Journal of Intercultural Relations ◽

10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.12.002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 43-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Chun Cao ◽

Qian Meng ◽

Liang Shang

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

International Students ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Chinese International Students ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Mainstream Society

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Prevalence of mental health issues and associated risk factors among Chinese international students in US colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.33341 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chenyang Lin ◽

Yuxin Tong ◽

Yaying Bai ◽

Zixi Zhao ◽

Wenxiang Quan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Social Support ◽

International Students ◽

Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Chinese International Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Us ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Associated Risk Factors

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 increased the prevalence of depression and anxiety among various populations. However, few have explored the mental health issues of Chinese international students in the US and the risk factors involved. OBJECTIVE his study examines the prevalence of anxiety and depression among Chinese international students enrolled in US universities during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the risk factors pertaining to changes in lifestyle, social support, sleep quality, and the virtual instruction mode to this student population. METHODS This study was conducted via an online cross-sectional questionnaire distributed through snowball sampling. The questions of the survey included demographic information, self-constructed questions on academic performance, financial concerns, use of social media, exercise, and psychological support, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression (PHQ-9), and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for anxiety. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the associated risk factors. RESULTS From the 1881 participants, this study found a general prevalence of depression (PHQ-9 score⩾ 5) at 48.6% and that of anxiety (GAD-7⩾ 5) at 43.0% among Chinese international students in the US during the late COVID pandemic period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that recent traumatic event(s), having friend(s) as tuition source(s), agreeing with and strongly agreeing with the pandemic’s impacts on financial status, a little workload, medium workload, a lot of workload, and higher ISI scores to be a associated with an increased risk of depression, while being a PhD student, more sources of emotional support, and higher SSRI scores were associated a lower risk of depression. Additionally, having friend(s) as tuition source(s), a little workload, often staying up for online courses, strongly agreeing with remote learning’s negative impacts on personal relationships, and higher ISI scores were associated with an increased risk of anxiety, while higher SSRI scores and older ages were associated with a lower risk of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS This study showed a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students in the US. Multiple risk factors pertaining to financial concerns, workload, social support, and sleep quality were identified. It is important for future studies to further investigate this student population and for schools to make adjustments to better accommodate their psychological needs.

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