Acculturative stress in Korean Americans

The effect of group art therapy on acculturative and academic stress of Chinese graduate students in South Korea

Background

Research has shown that international students, specifically Chinese graduate students in South Korea, are vulnerable to stress and depression because of various factors. These include environmental changes, economic constraints, interpersonal difficulties, discrimination, and cultural conflict.

Objective

This study investigates the effectiveness of group art therapy in reducing acculturative stress and academic stress among Chinese graduate students in South Korea.

Method

Thirty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 15) and control groups (n = 15). The experimental group received eight 120-min sessions of group art therapy. Both groups were tested for acculturative stress (perceived discrimination, homesickness, perceived hate, fear, stress due to change/culture shock) and academic stress (schoolwork stress, future stress, social stress, living environment stress) before and after the art therapy intervention. Results were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results

The results showed that there was a significantly greater reduction in acculturative and academic stress in the experimental than the control group.

Conclusion

Group art therapy can provide psychological and emotional support to international students studying abroad.

Understanding Chinese international students’ perception of cultural conflicts in Canada: Through the case of cannabis use

The legalization of recreational cannabis consumption in Canada created a cultural conflict for international students from China, where the use of cannabis is heavily criminalized and deemed immoral. This conceptual paper theorizes this cultural conflict experienced by Chinese international students in Canada by applying three theories from macro to micro levels. Neoliberalism is first used to understand how this cultural conflict exposes collisions between the neoliberal West and the rising economic power of China as illustrated through Chinese students studying in Canada. Next, acculturation theory focuses on these students’ cultural transition and provides further insight into potential strategies for their handling of specific cultural conflicts such as cannabis use. Lastly, Cloninger’s theory of substance use is adopted to explore Chinese international students’ individual reasoning about cannabis use, particularly how they make decisions based on evaluations of various conditions. Building upon the above analyses, an integrated conceptual model is further formed to help us understand Chinese students’ potential perception of cannabis use in Canada. This conceptual framework provides an important theoretical and conceptual base for future research and practice, from which to further explore cannabis use in the context of cultural transition of different immigrant and migrant groups.

The relationship between bicultural identity, acculturative stress, and psychological well-being in multicultural adolescents: Verification using multivariate latent growth modelling

This study aimed to examine causal relationships between bicultural identity, acculturative stress, and subjective well-being among multicultural adolescents. Secondary longitudinal data that were obtained from 1,635 multicultural adolescents were analysed. The results showed that bicultural identity had a positive effect on psychological well-being and a negative impact on acculturative stress; in addition, greater acculturative stress was associated with lower psychological well-being. Finally, bicultural identity indirectly affected psychological well-being by mediating the effects of acculturative stress. These findings underscore the need to facilitate the adaptation of multicultural adolescents by reducing acculturative stress and promoting bicultural acceptance in educational institutions.