Perceived discrimination, social connectedness, and other predictors of adjustment difficulties among Turkish international students

The relations between COVID-19 stress, social connectedness, and mental health: a longitudinal investigation comparing Chinese and American college students

College students in the U.S. and China have faced significant challenges during COVID-19. Data were collected from 120 Amerian students (Mage = 19.48, SDage = 1.30) and 119 Chinese students (Mage = 18.61, SDage = 0.91) in November, 2019 and March, 2020 to examine risk and protective factors for mental health (depression, anxiety, life satisfaction) during the pandemic, and potential cultural and gender differences. Results indicated that the frequency and impact of COVID-19-related stressful life events predicted deterioration of mental health over time, while social connectedness before the pandemic buffered the negative impact of COVID-19 stressful life events on life satisfaction. Chinese students reported higher levels of social connectedness and larger impact of COVID-19-related stressful life events, but lower frequency of stressful life events than American students. Stressful life events and social connectedness predicted mental health outcomes similarly for Chinese and American students. Gender differences were identified. Females reported more stressful life events, higher levels of depression, anxiety and less life satisfaction during COVID-19 than males. In addition, the frequency of stressful life events had a stronger impact on depression and anxiety for females compared with males. It is important to implement prevention and intervention programs to promote social connections and wellbeing among college students, especially among female students.

Nicotine vaping for relaxation and coping: Race/ethnicity differences and social connectedness mechanisms

The current study examined race- and ethnicity-based differences in the reasons that youth report for vaping, with an emphasis on understanding the relationship between race/ethnicity and vaping for relaxation and stress/anxiety coping. This work also sought to go beyond examining race-based differences as a cause of tobacco-use disparities by assessing social connectedness factors that mediate relationships between race/ethnicity and vaping for relaxation and coping. Research questions were tested using data from the 2019-2020 California Student Tobacco Survey, a representative school-based survey of 10th and 12th grade public school students throughout schools in California. Overall, 7.78% of the sample reported using nicotine vapes in the past 30 days. The final sample included 11,112 high school student current vape users. The most important reason that youth vaped was for relaxation and stress/anxiety coping, with racial and ethnic minorities most likely to report this vaping motivation. Analyses of the structural mechanisms underlying the relationship between race/ethnicity and vaping reasons showed that minority youth reported lower school, peer, and family connectedness when compared to White youth. Lower school and family connectedness were in turn correlated with being motivated to vape to relax or relieve stress and anxiety, and lower overall mental health. Findings imply that future intervention efforts might profitably focus on reducing stressors associated with relaxation and stress/anxiety coping motivations and highlight the importance of connectedness for indirectly decreasing vape use risk by improving negative mood and mental health.

Language and communication in international students' adaptation: a bibliometric and content analysis review

This article systematically reviews the literature (313 articles) on language and communication in international students' cross-cultural adaptation in institutions of higher education for 1994-2021. We used bibliometric analysis to identify the most impactful journals and articles, and the intellectual structure of the field. We used content analysis to synthesize the results within each research stream and suggest future research directions. We established two major research streams: second-language proficiency and interactions in the host country. We found inconclusive results about the role of communication with co-nationals in students' adaptation, which contradicts the major adaptation theories. New contextualized research and the use of other theories could help explain the contradictory results and develop the existing theories. Our review suggests the need to theoretically refine the interrelationships between the interactional variables and different adaptation domains. Moreover, to create a better fit between the empirical data and the adaptation models, research should test the mediating effects of second-language proficiency and the willingness to communicate with locals. Finally, research should focus on students in non-Anglophone countries and explore the effects of remote communication in online learning on students' adaptation. We document the intellectual structure of the research on the role of language and communication in international students' adaptation and suggest a future research agenda.

Associations between social behaviors and experiences with neural correlates of implicit emotion regulation in middle childhood

Emotion regulation is essential for successful social interactions and function, which are important aspects of middle childhood. The current study is one of the first to examine associations between neural correlates of implicit emotion regulation and indices of social behavior and experience during late middle childhood. We examined neural activation during the implicit emotion regulation condition of the Emotional N-back task using data from 8987 9- to 11-year-olds from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ study. The brain regions assessed included areas linked to social cognition, social behavior, and emotion recognition, including the amygdala, insula, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobe. Greater number of close friends was associated with significantly higher activation of the fusiform gyrus, insula, temporoparietal junction, inferior parietal lobe, and superior temporal gyrus during implicit emotion regulation. Greater reciprocal social impairments were linked to decreased fusiform gyrus activation during implicit emotion regulation. More experiences of discrimination were associated with a significantly lower activation in the middle temporal gyrus during implicit emotion regulation. This study provides evidence that both positive and negative indices of children's social experiences and behaviors are associated with neural correlates of implicit emotion regulation during late middle childhood. These findings suggest that both positive and negative indices of social behavior and experience, including those within and not within the youth's control, are associated with generally unique neural correlates during implicit emotion regulation.

The effect of perceived discrimination on cross-cultural adaptation of international students: moderating roles of autonomous orientation and integration strategy

This study explores the associations between perceived discrimination and cross-cultural adaptation among 335 international students in China. Drawing on self-determination theory, we propose that autonomous orientation can weaken the relationship between perceived discrimination and cross-cultural adaptation. Integration strategy can be seen as a mechanism that encourages international students to embrace both their original and host culture when they feel be discriminated. Results indicate that perceived discrimination is negatively associated with sociocultural adaptation and psychological adaptation among international students in China. Our research identifies autonomous orientation as an important contingency that weakens the effects of perceived discrimination on cross-cultural adaptation, confirming the moderating role of integration strategy in the relationship between perceived discrimination and sociocultural adaptation. Integration strategy mediates the moderating effects of autonomous orientation on the relationship between perceived discrimination and sociocultural adaption. The findings provide valuable insight into the positive impact of autonomous orientation and integration strategy on the cross-cultural adaptation of international students when they feel be discriminated, which is beneficial to the education and management of international students at the theoretical and practical levels.

Latent class analysis of loneliness and connectedness in US young adults during COVID-19

Objective

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic in the United States has exacerbated a number of mental health conditions and problems related to prolonged social isolation. While COVID‐19 has led to greater loneliness and a lack of social connectedness, little is known about who are the most affected and how they are impacted. Therefore, we performed a Latent Class Analysis using items from two scales – the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Social Connectedness Scale – to characterize different experiences of loneliness and connectedness, examine their relationship with mental health and substance use symptoms, including depression, anxiety, drinking, and drug use.

Methods

Data were drawn from an anonymous one‐time online survey examining the mental health of 1008 young adults (18–35 years old) during COVID‐19. A latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to observe and identify classes based on responses to loneliness and connectedness scale items, and to examine the existence of subgroups among this young adult population.

Results

We identified a 4‐class model of loneliness and connectedness: (1) Lonely and Disconnected – highest probabilities in items of loneliness and disconnectedness, (2) Moderately Lonely and Disconnected – adaptive levels of some isolation and disconnection during COVID‐19, (3) Ambivalent Feelings – displaying negative responses in particular to negatively‐worded items while simultaneously affirming positively worded items, and (4) Connected and Not Lonely – lowest probabilities in items of loneliness and disconnectedness.

Conclusion

Key findings include (1) the delineation of classes by levels of loneliness and connectedness showcasing differential mental health and substance use symptoms, (2) the utility of item‐level evaluation with LCA in determining specific classes of people in need of outreach and intervention, and (3) the promise of social connection to bolster resilience in young adults.

Why dispositional awe promotes psychosocial flourishing? An investigation of intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways among Chinese emerging adults

Promoting the psychosocial flourishing of emerging adults is crucially important. The tendency to feel awe, as captured by dispositional awe, may be a protective factor that promotes psychosocial flourishing. Inspired by the broaden-and-build theory, the present study sought to investigate the underexplored relationship between dispositional awe and psychosocial flourishing among emerging adults by establishing a dual-mediated model, which focuses on an intrapersonal mechanism of meaning in life and an interpersonal mechanism of social connectedness. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 1213 Chinese emerging adults who completed a series of anonymous questionnaires regarding dispositional awe, psychosocial flourishing, meaning in life, and social connectedness. Results of the correlation analysis revealed positive and significant associations among dispositional awe, meaning in life, social connectedness, and psychosocial flourishing. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that meaning in life and social connectedness fully mediated the association between dispositional awe and psychosocial flourishing. The mediation effect of meaning in life was stronger than that of social connectedness. These findings contributes to the science of flourishing by identifying the internal mechanisms of why dispositional awe promotes the psychosocial flourishing of emerging adults.

Fifteen-year trends in self-reported racism and link with health and well-being of African Canadian adolescents: a secondary data analysis

BACKGROUND

We assessed the prevalence and trends in racial discrimination among African Canadian adolescents in British Columbia. The association between racial discrimination and self-rated health, access to mental health services, substance use, suicidal thoughts and attempts, experience of extreme stress, among others were examined within the 2018 dataset.

METHODS

Secondary analysis used the data collected from African Canadian adolescents (n = 2448) as part of the British Columbia Adolescent Health Surveys (2003-2018). We examined whether racial discrimination increased, decreased, or remained stable over time. We evaluated experiences of racial discrimination for all adolescents, and then disaggregated analyses for boys, girls, immigrant, and Canadian-born African adolescents. We used Rao-Scott's adjusted chi-square to test differences in racial discrimination and adjusted logistic regressions to test trends across survey years, widening or narrowing gaps in racial discrimination, as well as the link to health outcomes.

RESULTS

Racial discrimination was significantly different across the survey years (Adjusted F = 4.60, p < .01), with the highest percentage of adolescents reporting past year racial discrimination in 2018 (29.9%) and the lowest percentage in 2013 (21.3%). Girls and immigrant African Canadian adolescents were more likely to have experienced racial discrimination. However, girls and Canadian-born adolescents had the highest odds of reporting racial discrimination in 2018 compared to 2003, AOR = 1.85, and 1.58, respectively. The findings reveal significant differences in the experiences of racial discrimination for boys and girls, as well as for immigrant and Canadian-born African adolescents. Significant differences were noted in the link between racial discrimination and self-rated health and engaging in behaviours that might expose them to health risks. The worst negative health outcomes were found for boys and immigrant African Canadian adolescents.

CONCLUSION

The study suggests that more than 1 in 4 African Canadian adolescents in British Columbia report racial discrimination, which is an increasing trend in recent years. Those who reported racial discrimination also had the worst adverse health outcomes. There is a need for more public health action to reduce racism, create awareness about the negative health impacts, and provide better support for African Canadian adolescents.

Acculturative Stress Among Female Saudi College Students in the United States

Despite their increasing numbers, Saudi Arabian international students in the United States have been the focus of few research studies. We examined acculturative stress among 84 female Saudi Arabian students enrolled in US colleges and universities in the vicinity of Washington, DC. Most participants experienced low levels of depression and anxiety, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Furthermore, smooth acculturation in the United States was strongly related to respondents' confidence in their English-language competence. Interestingly, English-language proficiency and other sociodemographic variables (e.g., marital status, religiosity) were not related to psychological stress, as measured by the BAI and BDI-II. In contrast, the study found a statistically significant relationship between cultural mistrust and respondents' psychological stress. We conclude that initiatives sponsoring international student-study in the United States and host universities should provide incoming international students with enhanced support for developing English-language proficiency, as well as a more expansive toolkit for cultural understanding.

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

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.

International Students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences: A Survey about Their Needs and Difficulties

Conflict of interest: none declared.

A Qualitative Examination of Muslim Graduate International Students' Experiences in the United States

Although there has been an increase in enrollment of Muslim international students in college campuses in the United States over the past decade, few studies have examined the experiences of cultural adjustment among Muslim graduate international students. In the present qualitative study, we examined graduate students' experiences of acculturation, engagement with religion, and negotiation of social support in a new cultural environment. Semistructured interviews with 15 Muslim international students enrolled in graduate programs in the United States were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Five broad categories emerged from the data including: (1) diverse views of the new cultural environment, (2) social isolation, (3) experiences of discrimination, (4) religious identity, and (5) protective factors in adjusting to the United States. A number of themes within these broad categories provide new knowledge concerning stress and resilience experienced by participants. Implications of the findings for research and intervention are discussed.