Preliminary Findings: Acculturation Stress, Social Support, and Depression Among International Students

Background/Purpose: Acculturation is a process of cultural and psychological change accompanying cross-cultural adjustment. Repeated exposure to intense stress during the acculturation process may hinder mental health functioning. Depression is one of the major health concerns for international students, and studies reveal a direct link between acculturation stress and depression. Students from collectivist cultures are more prone to depression due to familial expectations of academic excellence, cultural emphasis on emotional self-control, and negative attitudes toward mental illness. Social support is known to lessen the negative mental health impact of acculturation stress. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of literature examining this important issue. This cohort study explored the relationship between acculturation stress and depression among first-year students from collectivist cultures studying in the U.S., and examined the role that social support plays in that relationship.

Methods: The sample included first-year international students at a large university in a southeastern state. Participants were categorized into three groups informed by Hofstede’s study of collectivist countries: Chinese, Indian, and Other. Participants completed an online survey that consisted of demographic and psychosocial measures of acculturation stress, depression, and perceived social support. One-hundred and twenty-two students (Chinese: n=67, Indian: n=31, and Other: n=24) participated in this study.

Results: Mean comparisons indicated significant group differences on several variables: length of U.S. residence [F(2, 119) = 5.01, p = .0081], perceived comfort of spoken English [F(2, 119) = 19.68, p = <.0001], communication with host nationals [F(2, 119) = 4.26, p = .0164], and social support satisfaction [F(2, 119) = 6.66, p = .0018]. Indian students reported the lowest mean for length of residence and the highest means for all other the remaining variables. For all participants, a positive correlation was observed between financial concerns and acculturation stress (r = .179, p < .05), and between acculturation stress and depression (r = .540, p < .05). A negative correlation was observed between perceived comfort of spoken English and acculturation stress (r = -.263, p < .05), and between social support satisfaction and acculturation stress (r = -.266, p < .05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that primary psychosocial indicators in the study were significantly associated with depression among participants [F(11, 109) = 9.04, p < .0001, Adj. R² = .42]. Main effects for the “Other” group (β = .24, p < .05), length of residence (β = -.23, p < .05), and acculturation stress (β = .62, p < .0001) accounted for 37% of overall variance.

Conclusions/Implications: Our findings suggest that acculturation stress among international students from collectivist cultures increased as their U.S. stay lengthened. This may result from cultural pressure to succeed academically; this internalized pressure subsequently proliferates as they advance in their education. Language played an important role because adequate language skills likely impact social interaction and facilitate the acculturation process. Social support was not observed to be a strong predictor of depression. Implications for university personnel and appropriate service provision will be presented.