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This study is devoted to understanding the adjustment issues Japanese and Korean international students face in Thai international higher education. An exploratory study of 15 visiting Korean college students and 15 visiting Japanese college students in Thai international programs was conducted using qualitative methods. A series of 30 face-to-face in-depth interviews regarding the participants' sociocultural adjustment to their host community was conducted in 2015-2016. Participants responded to open-ended questions regarding their adjustment experiences and perceptions of the host culture. The interview data was thematically coded into several categories. Participants' experiences were diverse and ranged from very subtle forms of discrimination and stereotyping to sexual harassment. The most frequently reported impediments to sociocultural adjustment included Thai language issues, excessive undesirable attention from the host community, academic adjustment, and difficulty establishing friendships with the host nationals. The most commonly reported coping strategies reported were the use of social support networks and social isolation from the host community. Implications for international relations departments and international programs within a Thai context are discussed.

This study explores how early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) contribute to the development of anxiety symptomologies among college undergraduates (N=110). The study was conducted by assessing the correlations between 18 schemas derived from Young's model of Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMSs) and anxiety symptoms using Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), self-reported anxiety assessment arranging severity into 4 indexes ranging from normal range, minimal to moderate anxiety, marked to severe anxiety, and extreme anxiety. The study examined how each of the 18 individual EMSs serves as predictors of anxiety symptomatology in college students. The results of the study show that 14 out of 18 early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) were predictive of anxiety symptoms. Aside from the association of anxiety symptoms and EMSs, the findings of the study reveal the important role of gender and ethnicity in predicting anxiety and individual EMSs. Unrelenting Standard/Hyper criticalness and Approval-Seeking/Recognition-Seeking were the two leading EMSs characterized by the majority of the respondents may be explained by the Thai collectivist culture which incorporates the values that form a part of these schemas as socially desirable and emphasizes the importance of conformity and approval of others.

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Historically, much of the research on acculturation and adjustment was conducted on migrant and refugee populations. The start of the twenty first century has seen a surprising surge in a new immigrant class, mobile students, their characteristics differing from the social, political and economic refugees of the twentieth century. This article provides an overview of the literature related to the salient features of acculturation, adaptation and adjustment models as applied to international university students and the stressors they most frequently encounter. It recommends that future research transitions from universalistic mode-based inquiry to more nuanced approaches which emphasize an individual's characteristics from country of origin or perceived ethnic identity. A social constructivist position which emphasizes the historical and ethnic relationships among the visiting students and the host nationals is most beneficial to understanding the contemporary international student adjustment paradigm.