Professional Issues: Common Stressors Among International College Students: Research and Counseling Implications

Abstract

International college students studying in North America endure substantial psychological stress in their daily lives. The nature andfunction of stressors in the context of international college students' subjective appraisal are discussed and analyzed using Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) concept of stress. Recommendations for future research are outlined, and counseling implications areprovided.

A review of the acculturation experiences of international students

“…International students may expect to perform academically as well as, if not better than, what they did in their home country (Chen, 1999;Mori, 2000;Pedersen, 1991). However, their academic performance may be below their expectations due to acculturative stressors of studying in a second language and adapting to the new educational, cultural, and social environment.…”

“…Chen (1999) argues that second language anxiety is a stressor that interacts with other stressors in both academic and sociocultural domains. In the academic domain, language barriers can impact on assignment writing, understanding lectures, oral and written examinations, and the ability to ask questions in class (Chen;Mori, 2000). Poyrazli and Kavanaugh (2006) found that low academic achieving international students studying in the U.S.A. reported lower levels of English proficiency and greater overall adjustment strain.…”

“…Socially, language barriers can impede international students' attempts to make friends and interact with locals (Chen, 1999;Mori, 2000). For instance, Barratt and Huba (1994) found that international students' English competency increased self-esteem and was positively associated with more interpersonal relations with locals.…”

“…Whilst literature reviews have previously investigated the array of stressors that international students face (e.g., Andrade, 2006;Chen, 1999;Mori, 2000), the subsequent expansion of literature in this area in the past decade highlights the need for another review integrating this recent research.…”

Investigadores Colombianos en Brasil: características biosociodemográficas, bienestar, ansiedad, estrés y depresión

“…Impactando en el bienestar psicológico al salir de países natales hacia una nueva cultura e intentar adaptarse a ella, al tiempo que se busca cumplir con responsabilidades académicas, lo que puede afectar su ajuste sociocultural (ABEL, 2002;CHEN, 1999;CEMALCILAR;FALBO, 2008;GLASS;WESTMONT, 2014). Así, los estudiantes estarían vulnerables a experimentar ansiedad, estrés, depresión y burnout, acompañado de bajos niveles de autoestima y dificultades en el desarrollo de tareas (AKHTAR; KRÖNER-HERWIG, 2015;BOTERO, 2012;FARO, 2013;FERREIRA et al, 2009;FURLAN, 2013;GARCÍA-ROS et al, 2012;GUTIÉRREZ, 1996;MARCHI et al, 2013).…”