Uprooting stress, coping, and anxiety: A longitudinal study of international students.

Abstract

Although a substantial body of literature on stress and coping in international students exists, research has focused on the difficulties of adapting to a new cultural environment rather than the stress of leaving home (termed ‘uprooting’). The present study examined uprooting stress and coping (primary and secondary) strategies as predictors of anxiety in a 3-month longitudinal study of 127 international students. Given the low controllability of uprooting, it was hypothesized that primary coping would predict increments in anxiety over time, whereas secondary coping would predict decrements. Interactions between stress and coping strategies were also expected with primary coping exacerbating and secondary coping buffering the negative effects of stress on anxiety. The data were subjected to a hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for anxiety at Time 1, cultural background, length of residence, and English language proficiency. The analysis revealed that coping strategies at Time 1 exerted main effects on anxiety at Time 2 with primary coping predicting higher, and secondary coping predicting lower, levels of anxiety. Although uprooting stress did not exert a main effect on anxiety, it interacted with coping in that, specifically as hypothesized, primary coping exacerbated the negative effects of stress while secondary coping buffered its influence on anxiety.

Coping With Uprooting Stress During Domestic Educational Migration in China

“…In line with the goodness-of-fit hypothesis, we found primary coping was not successful in reducing maladaptation, but instead amplified the negative impact of stress on anxiety. This interaction effect supports Szabo et al (2016).…”

“…Uprooting stress, as first defined in Szabo et al (2016), included four items measuring the intensity of the stress from 'feeling separated from friends and family from back home' , 'leaving something of importance behind' , 'saying goodbye to people from back home' , and 'deciding what to bring to the new place of residence' . Participants were asked 'In the last month, how often have you felt stressed from .…”

“…The measurements used in the present study were adopted from Szabo et al (2016) and are explained below.…”

“…While the authors focused on general acculturative stress (i.e., stress of adjusting to new culture), Ward (2001) highlighted the linkage among stress, homesickness, and maladaptation across international students. The most recent and relevant empirical evidence pointing to the association among uprooting, coping, and adjustment stems from a study by Szabo, Jose, and Ward (2016). Using a sample of international students from two cultural backgrounds (Asian and Western) in New Zealand, the longitudinal study found that uprooting stress was moderated by two coping constructs (explained in the next paragraph).…”

“…To test the main effect for uprooting stress (H2) and interaction effects (H3, H3a, H3b), a hierarchical linear regression model was conducted (as in Szabo et al, 2016). In step 1, anxiety time1 was residualised on the anxiety time2 , thus predicting which variables from time 1 (demographic variables, uprooting stress, and coping strategies) lead to a change in anxiety (Jose & Huntsinger, 2005 the interactions yielded 3% of the change in anxiety time2 .…”