scholarly journals Internationalization and Its Discontents: Help-Seeking Behaviors of Students in a Multicultural Environment Regarding Acculturative Stress and Depression

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽  
Meirmanov Serik ◽  
Thu-Trang Vuong ◽  
Manh-Tung Ho
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Acculturative Stress ◽  
Education System ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Polynomial Regression ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Help Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Multicultural Environment

Stress and depression can be seen as the major obstacles for sustained education and attainment of foreign students, and in turn, the sustainability of an education system as a whole. However, the mainstream consideration following Berry’s model on acculturation does not take into account whether students of the host countries are immune to these problems. This study aims to examine the prevalence and predictors of help-seeking behaviors among international and domestic students in a multicultural environment by employing ANOVA and polynomial regression. Some significant results from this study are: (1) Informal sources were the most prevalent sources of help-seeking among international and domestic students, while formal help-seeking was not popular; (2) international students were more likely to overcome emotional difficulties alone and seek help on the Internet than domestic students; (3) acculturative stress was a positive predictor of formal, informal, and miscellaneous help-seeking behaviors among international students and informal help-seeking behaviors or among domestic students; and (4) depression was negatively correlated with the willingness of international students to seek help from informal sources. The findings hint at the risk of acculturative stress faced by domestic students in a multicultural environment being overlooked and the lack of help-seeking sources for international students. The study also provides empirical evidence for policy-planners to design a sustainable education system better at supporting students dealing with depression and acculturative stress.

scholarly journals A Dataset of Students’ Mental Health and Help-Seeking Behaviors in a Multicultural Environment

Data ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽  
Manh-Toan Ho ◽  
Quynh-Yen T. Nguyen ◽  
Quan-Hoang Vuong
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Acculturative Stress ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Help Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Health Studies

University students, especially international students, possess a higher risk of mental health problems than the general population. However, the literature regarding the prevalence and determinants of mental health problems as well as help-seeking behaviors of international and domestic students in Japan seems to be limited. This dataset contains 268 records of depression, acculturative stress, social connectedness, and help-seeking behaviors reported by international and domestic students at an international university in Japan. One of the main findings that can be drawn from this dataset is how the level of social connectedness and acculturative stress are predictive of the reported depression among international as well as domestic students. The dataset is expected to provide reliable materials for further study of cross-cultural public health studies and policy-making in higher education.

scholarly journals Perceived beneficiaries and support for the globalization of higher education: a survey experiment on attitudes toward international students

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Thomas Gift ◽  
Carlos X. Lastra-Anadón
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Foreign students are one of the most significant immigrant categories in many North American and Western European countries. Yet, as their numbers have swelled, many governments have experienced increasing pressures to cap their entry. This is true despite the sizable benefits that foreign students bring to host countries, and despite standard political economy concerns about immigrants—that they take away jobs or abuse public entitlements—not applying to foreign students. We field a nationally-representative survey experiment in the UK, one of the top destinations for foreign students, to examine potential activators of public support for capping the number of foreign students. Results show that support for caps is most activated when citizens are primed to think about foreign students competing with domestic students for scarce admissions slots at universities.

scholarly journals Alice in Suicideland: Exploring the Suicidal Ideation Mechanism through the Sense of Connectedness and Help-Seeking Behaviors

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3681
Author(s):  
Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽  
Tam-Tri Le ◽  
Hong-Kong To Nguyen ◽  
Manh-Toan Ho ◽  
Huyen T. Thanh Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Suicidal Thoughts ◽  
Help Seeking Behaviors ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Cultural Responses ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Informal Help

On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 s. However, extant studies have largely focused on the risk factors for suicidal behaviors, not so much on the formation of suicidal thoughts. Therefore, we attempt to explain how suicidal thoughts arise and persist inside one’s mind using a multifiltering information mechanism called Mindsponge. Bayesian analysis with Hamiltonian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique was run on a dataset of multinational students (N = 268) of an international university in Japan. Item 9 in the PHQ-9 was used to survey suicidal ideation. The associations among four main variables, namely, (i) suicidal ideation, (ii) help-seeking willingness (informal and formal sources), (iii) sense of connectedness, and (iv) information inaccessibility (represented by being international students), were tested in four models. Sense of connectedness is negatively associated with suicidal ideation, but its effect becomes less impactful when interacting with international students. The impact of a sense of connectedness on informal help-seeking willingness (toward family members) among international students is also lessened. Informal help-seeking is negatively associated with suicidal ideation, whereas formal help is positive. The findings support our assumption on three fundamental conditions for preventing suicidal thoughts: (i) a high degree of belongingness, (ii) accessibility to help-related information, and (iii) healthy perceived cultural responses towards mental health. Therefore, systematically coordinated programs are necessary to effectively tackle suicidal ideation.

scholarly journals Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh Nguyen ◽  
Tam Le ◽  
Serik Meirmanov
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Acculturative Stress ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
English Language ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Statistical Investigation ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression ◽  
International University

(1) This study aims to examine the prevalence of depression and its correlation with Acculturative Stress and Social Connectedness among domestic and international students in an international university in Japan. (2) Methods: A Web-based survey was distributed among several classes of students of the university, which yielded 268 responses. On the survey, a nine-item tool from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Social Connectedness Scale (SCS) and Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) were used together with socio-demographic data. (3) Results: The prevalence of depression was higher among international than domestic students (37.81% and 29.85%, respectively). English language proficiency and student age (20 years old) showed a significant correlation with depression among domestic students (β = −1.63, p = 0.038 and β = 2.24, p = 0.048). Stay length (third year) also displayed a significant correlation with depression among international students (β = 1.08, p = 0.032). Among international and domestic students, a statistically significant positive correlation between depression and acculturative stress, and negative associations of social connectedness with depression and acculturative stress were also found. (4) Conclusions: The high prevalence of depression, and its association with Acculturation stress and Social Connectedness, among the students in this study highlight the importance of implementing support programs which consider the role of Acculturation and Social Connectedness.

scholarly journals Demographic Correlates of Acculturation and Sociocultural Adaptation

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1074-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hande Güzel ◽  
Sharon Glazer
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Acculturative Stress ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Demographic Correlates ◽  
Making Friends ◽  
High Uncertainty

A cross-sectional survey study of international (n=207) and domestic (n=173) students revealed, as expected, that international students had higher acculturative stress than domestic students, but this difference did not vary by marital status or length of stay. Also, women from high Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) and high Power Distance (PD) countries (vs. low UA and high PD countries) had greater social interaction acculturative stress (e.g., difficulty making friends). Thus, cultural background plays an important role in students’ adaptation and university counselors might need to collaborate with academic staff to help international students adjust. Female students from high UA and high PD countries may be especially in need of assistance to cope with acculturative stress.  

scholarly journals Prevalence of common mental health concerns and service utilization among international students studying in the U.S.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Zhou ◽  
Anne Q. Zhou ◽  
Xiaoning Sun
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Students ◽  
Service Utilization ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mental Health Concerns

An estimated one million international students are enrolled in U.S. universities. However, little was known about the landscape of their mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Drawing from a large national university student sample (N = 228,421, 8.49% non-U.S. citizen) from the Healthy Minds Study, data indicated the rates of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, eating disorder, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicidal ideation were 27.4%, 20.0%, 26.4%, 17.2%, and 8.8% respectively among international students, with high inter-country variabilities. Contrary to our expectations, there is no strong and consistent evidence suggesting international students were at higher risk for common mental health concerns compared to domestic students. However, among students who were screened positive for these mental health disorders (n = 96,567), there was a significant difference between service utilization rates for international students and domestic students (32.0% vs. 49.8%), even after controlling for gender, age, socioeconomic status, perceived need for help, mental health stigma, and using informal support. Our results highlight the urgency for addressing mental health concerns and equitable mental health care among international students.

scholarly journals Professional Language Training of International Students in the Multicultural Environment of University for International Relations

2014 ◽  
pp. 317-323
Author(s):  
T. Glebova
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Multicultural Environment

The article addresses the specific features of professional language training of international students in the multicultural environment of a Russian university teaching students of international relations. After a brief historical survey of teaching foreign students in the universities of Russia, the writer considers the factors that influence the choice of universities graduating specialists in international relations by foreign students. The author goes on to analyze the specifics of linguisticand socio-cultural environment in Russian universities and its impact on international students stressing the fact that the educational environment at MGIMO-University is multilingual and multicultural. That explains the relevance of studying the quality of professional language training of foreign students in the sphere of international relations. The language of teaching in most universities of the Russian Federation is Russian, besides, all MGIMO students are obliged to learn English either as their first or second foreign language, that is why international students have to study in a tri-lingual environment and the interfering influence of several cultures. The writer points out that under such circumstances it is necessary for future IR specialists to build a number of professionally relevant competences: linguistic, socio-cultural, communicative, and suggests educational technologies that have proved to be effective in building them: case-study, role-plays, etc. The article gives special attention to the place and role of translation in teaching English as translation is a system of encoding within the system of two language systems. Translating phrases from Russian into English the student does 'inner', mental translation using the mother tongue. That makes the author suggest using the students'mother tongues in the teaching process. While learning foreign languages, international students should, along with language material, study the system of values of a different country thus preparing themselves for cross-cultural communication in the professional international community.

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