Cross-Cultural Differences in Psychological Health, Perceived Stress, and Coping Strategies of University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 has affected the entire world, including university students. Students are likely to experience COVID-19 related stress that might adversely affect their psychological health and result in various coping strategies. Aims: This study’s objectives were to examine cross-cultural differences and the relationships between stress, psychological health, and coping among university students during the pandemic. Furthermore, the study explored whether coping strategies mediated the relationship between psychological health and perceived distress for this population. Methods: University students (n = 703) were recruited via convenience sampling from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants completed an online quantitative questionnaire consisting of demographics, the Perceived Stress Scale, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Brief-COPE. Results: Perceived psychological distress was significantly associated with poorer general psychological health and both were associated with dysfunctional coping. For all countries, psychological health mediated the relationship between perceived distress and dysfunctional coping. Students from individualistic cultures reported higher stress and poorer psychological health when compared to those from collectivistic countries. The latter tended to engage in more emotion-focused and problem-focused coping and used more dysfunctional coping strategies than the former. Conclusions: Future research should explore other mediators and moderators that affect university students’ responses to pandemics and should include longitudinal studies with larger samples. Findings emphasize the need for providing university students with mental health support during and after COVID-19. It is important to develop and research empirically based strategies for reducing their stress and psychological distress through effective and culturally appropriate coping strategies.

The effect of mobile phone addiction on perceived stress and mediating role of ruminations: Evidence from Chinese and Czech university students

“…First, previous studies have provided evidence for the mediating role of ruminative thinking in the context of mobile phone addiction and mental health ( Wang et al, 2018 ; Lian et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2022 ; Peng et al, 2022 ). Second, there is separate evidence for cross-cultural differences in perceived stress ( Lee et al, 2022 ; Mohamed et al, 2022 ), ruminative thinking ( Murdock et al, 2019 ) and mobile phone addiction ( Yang et al, 2019 ; Olson et al, 2022 ). And third, and most importantly, there is surprisingly no direct evidence of cultural conditioning of the aforementioned mediating relationship.…”

“…Surprisingly, although previous studies have both described the mediating role of rumination in the context of mobile phone addiction ( Wang et al, 2018 ; Lian et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2022 ; Peng et al, 2022 ) and have indicated cross-cultural differences in perceived stress ( Lee et al, 2022 ; Mohamed et al, 2022 ), ruminative thinking ( Murdock et al, 2019 ) and mobile phone addiction ( Yang et al, 2019 ; Olson et al, 2022 ), there is no direct evidence available on the cultural conditioning of this mediating relationship. To explore the above-mentioned mechanism and in part fill the gap in understanding the role of cross-cultural differences, the aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of ruminative thinking on the relationship between mobile phone addiction and perceived stress in two different cultural settings and to compare them against each other.…”

“…The reduction in the possibilities for face-to-face interaction, lockdowns and social distancing (Nurunnabi et al, 2021;Viner et al, 2021), increased uncertainty about the future, financial implications (Cao et al, 2020;Russo and Terraneo, 2020), health and mental health risks (Son et al, 2020;Browning et al, 2021;Fruehwirth et al, 2021;Křeménková et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2021) as well as the inevitability of having to spend a great amount of time online which is also flooded with more negative content (Ratan et al, 2021;Serra et al, 2021) may play a role in the increased development of mobile phone addiction and the magnification of its negative consequences and mental health issues in general, especially in individuals who have less resources to cope with challenging situations and adversities. Surprisingly, although previous studies have both described the mediating role of rumination in the context of mobile phone addiction (Wang et al, 2018;Lian et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2021;Li et al, 2022;Peng et al, 2022) and have indicated cross-cultural differences in perceived stress (Lee et al, 2022;Mohamed et al, 2022), ruminative thinking (Murdock et al, 2019) and mobile phone addiction (Yang et al, 2019;Olson et al, 2022), there is no direct evidence available on the cultural conditioning of this mediating relationship. To explore the above-mentioned mechanism and in part fill the gap in understanding the role of cross-cultural differences, the aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of ruminative thinking on the relationship between mobile phone addiction and perceived stress in two different cultural settings and to compare them against each other.…”