Depression, Acculturative Stress, and Social Connectedness among International University Students in Japan: A Statistical Investigation

Abstract

(1) This study aims to examine the prevalence of depression and its correlation with Acculturative Stress and Social Connectedness among domestic and international students in an international university in Japan. (2) Methods: A Web-based survey was distributed among several classes of students of the university, which yielded 268 responses. On the survey, a nine-item tool from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Social Connectedness Scale (SCS) and Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) were used together with socio-demographic data. (3) Results: The prevalence of depression was higher among international than domestic students (37.81% and 29.85%, respectively). English language proficiency and student age (20 years old) showed a significant correlation with depression among domestic students (β = −1.63, p = 0.038 and β = 2.24, p = 0.048). Stay length (third year) also displayed a significant correlation with depression among international students (β = 1.08, p = 0.032). Among international and domestic students, a statistically significant positive correlation between depression and acculturative stress, and negative associations of social connectedness with depression and acculturative stress were also found. (4) Conclusions: The high prevalence of depression, and its association with Acculturation stress and Social Connectedness, among the students in this study highlight the importance of implementing support programs which consider the role of Acculturation and Social Connectedness.

A Dataset of Students’ Mental Health and Help-Seeking Behaviors in a Multicultural Environment

“…Based on the PHQ-9, four categorical variables ("Suicide", "Dep", "DepType", "DevSev") and one continuous variable ("ToDep") were created. The measured Cronbach alpha for the international and domestic dataset was 0.81 and 0.80, respectively [3], while the validity of the question was confirmed by other mental health studies [12,13].…”

“…Having an intimate relationship is negatively correlated with acculturative stress among domestic and international students Language proficiencies are significantly correlated with depression and acculturative stress among domestic and international students The research questions and hypotheses examined in other publications employing this dataset [3,4] are exhibited in Table 4. Table 4.…”

Sociocultural Adaptation Profiles of Ethnic Minority Senior High School Students in Mainland China: A Latent Class Analysis

“…Cross-cultural adaptation refers to "the dynamic process by which individuals, upon relocating to new, unfamiliar, or changed cultural environments, establish (or reestablish) and maintain relatively stable, reciprocal, and functional relationships with those environments" [16]. Long-term immigrants [17][18][19] and temporary sojourners to different countries [20][21][22][23][24] have always been the focus of cross-cultural adaptation research. However, due to the differences between minority heritage cultures and the dominant national culture, ethnic minority populations also have to adapt to the host society in which they were born or raised.…”

A Scientometric Study on Depression among University Students in East Asia: Research and System Insufficiencies?

“…In order to target studies on the university/college student population, the term "college student" and "university student" were used. Moreover, as the international student population in university is gaining attention from researchers [21][22][23][24][25][26], we also include the keyword "international student" in our search queries. The following search queries were employed to search for articles related to depressive disorders among university/college students in three Asian countries: Korea, Japan, and China.…”

“…Despite the expansion of investment into mental health research and development of central government in Korea, there was a huge disproportion in directing the investment, with only 10% of the budget [63] is spent on studies of mental health policies, services, and humanities and social sciences issues, etc., while another 90% was spent on basic research, therapy, and diagnosis studies. As the depressive level and healthcare usage are significantly affected by multiple social-cultural-economic aspects [25,[64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71], such disproportionate distribution of investment might result in insufficient depression prevention and treatment among particular populations, such as university students. Re-allocation of the investment is, therefore, essential to protect the mental health of the young generation.…”