Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

Australia is an inspired destination for thousands of Indian sojourners. An Australian study was conducted to investigate the factors contributing the psychological distresses in international students in Australia. The study assessed the manner of manifestation of the psychological distress among these students. The study included 86 students who were to fill a nine self-reported questionnaire. Results revealed that worry manifested by obsessive–compulsiveness, reflection and perfectionist tendencies were the most common manifestations of psychological distress. Inability to cope was the only major factor contributing the distress. The implications of the study underscored the need for assessment of students’ mental health issues and the need for designing of suitable intervention programs.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

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Over the decades, researchers have identified myriad of issues faced by expatriates during their adjustment processes abroad. The earliest study on sojourner adjustment was conducted in the year 1951 by Forstat. The researcher investigated the various adjustment problems pertaining to 182 international students enrolled in an American university. The results concluded that dating, financial issue, the English language, the academic system, housing, and food were the most common adjustment issues among the international students .2

Another earlier study was conducted by Sharma which analyzed adjustment problems among sojourners in universities in North Carolina. The problems were categorized as academic, personal, and social which were perceived by international students. The major academic problems included perceiving lectures, involvement in class modules, or working on oral and written reports. The personal problems included housing, nostalgia, financial independence, groceries. Social problems included adjusting the American customs, making contacts, and acceptance by social groups. Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

During the year 2010, the Australian authorities raised the minimum English language score (IELTS score) to 7 from 6.5. This caused havoc to many sojourners especially the nurses. The nurses, estimated to number of 400, were from India, China, Thailand and Philippines respectively and were faced with deportation from Australia because of the lack of English proficiency. These nurses, individually, had paid AUD 25,000/- to be a registered nurse in Australia but were now faced with no registration and no job.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

In a recent research conducted by Expat Forum on behalf of Barclays International Banking regarding challenges faced by sojourners in Australia. The census findings highlightedloneliness (22.41%), cost of living (18.97%), cultural differences (8.62%), relationship problems (6.90%), healthcare (3.45%) and other issues (39.66%) as the major challenges faced by sojourners in Australia. It was found out that Younger generation expatriates had minor problems in learning the local language, but had a harder time making friends and settling in. On the contrary, it was also found that aged expatriates had a harder time learning the local language and had lesser difficulties in arranging for an accomodation.5

Proficiency of the English language is a gateway to cultural adjustment. In 2013, the Deccan Herald newspaper reported an incident at Sydney Adventist Hospital in Australia. The Indian male nurse was found guilty of giving dishwashing powder to an elderly patient. The nurse was alleged of giving medication from a bottle that was labeled as heart pills. Later it was found out by the Australian authorities that the bottle contained detergent powder and not heart pills. The nurse’s registration was cancelled by the Australian registration board. The board said the nurse could have confused about the bottle contents due to his poor English proficiency.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

A project was initiated by the Prince of Wales hospital to help the overseas nurses during their initial phase of work in Australia. The intention of the project was to help nurses with orientation information. The project included literature review, survey, focus groups interviews, committee-meeting with senior staff, and development of a launch strategy for the new overseas nurses in their hospital. During their survey and committee meetings, it was found out that all overseas nurses faced career and lifestyle difficulties, loneliness and homesickness as a major problem. Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

A study investigated the psychological distress among 280 Muslims migrants living in Brisbane, Australia. The Muslim participants were asked to fill questionnaires in English or Arabic language. The study results indicated that participants’ psychological distress was affected by their marital and visa statuses. it was also found that psychological distress was assumed by the perceived difficulties in English language, lack of community support, and inclination to use emotional and avoidance coping.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

A study was conducted to find out the similarity and dissimilarities in the cross-cultural adjustment among expatriates. The Q method and interviews were used for the study to assess factors that helped and hindered expatriates during their first year in the country. Q factor analysis identified three types of adjustment patterns among participants. The first type of international students identified their social and communication skills as the most helpful factors, and was more likely to report homesickness. The second group of participants preferred to seek help from their own countrymen when experiencing difficulty, and considered insufficient English skills their biggest barrier. International students in the third type thought that their commitment to study and their immediate family played the most helpful roles, and they reported more financial difficulties. Besides these differences, the three types of international students also encountered similar barriers such as cultural differences, financial difficulty, discrimination, and impractical expectations.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

A systematic review of literature was conducted in 2011 to assess the adjustment issues of international students enrolled in American colleges and universities. The review was conducted in three online databases—PsycINFO, ProQuest Education Journals, and ProQuest Psychology Journals. The Search was limited to date range (1991-2010), full text documents, and peer-reviewed journals. The findings of the study indicated that English fluency, social support, length of stay in the U.S., perceived discrimination or prejudice, establishing relationships with Americans, and homesickness were the most significant variables related to the adjustment of international students.10

This study examined predictors of psychological distress in a sample of 334 international students studying at different public universities in Turkey. The standard multiple regression analysis was used to clarify the contributions of individual characteristics, interaction with Turkish students, perceived discrimination, Turkish language proficiency, perceived cultural distance, integration to social life in Turkey, and life satisfaction to psychological distress of international students. The results revealed that life satisfaction, integration to social life in Turkey, Turkish language proficiency, and length of stay in the host country (Turkey) account for 32.8% of the variance in the international students’ psychological distress levels. The study concludes that factors contributing to psychological distress of foreign students are related to some individual characteristics and personal factors. Hence, foreign students need to go through a preparation process/program in their home country. Then a guidance and orientation program needs to be provided in the host country.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

According to Harman (2004)1
, international students were one of the main sources of finance
in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These students may face many
difficulties once they arrive in countries like the UK, trying to adjust to their new
surroundings. They confront, for example, more difficulties and challenges than the British
students beginning a university course, especially if English is not their first language and the
culture of their motherland is substantially different from British culture. Apart from
language and cultural barriers, other reported difficulties include high academic demand,
missing family and friends, lack of social support, lower self-confidence, deficiencies with
study skills and a need to have more assertiveness (Poyrazli et al., 2002)2
. Currently, not
enough research has been published regarding acculturative stress and social support,
including its relationship with psychological mental health amongst international students
studying at UK universities.
The main purposes of this study were threefold: (1) investigate the association between
mental health and psychosocial variables amongst both international and British students (in
UK universities); (2) explore the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of international students
in the context of acculturation, while they study abroad in the UK universities; and finally (3)
to triangulate and integrate the findings of this study obtained from two distinct approaches of
combined results.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay
A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was employed, consisting of three main
studies. (a) I (Pilot study): a quantitative study employing simple yet effective cross-sectional
approaches through its intention to using sample data; (b) II (Main study): a quantitative
method specifically utilising cross-sectional design using authoritative data; and (c) III: a
qualitative research conducting semi-structured interviews (using two qualitative
questionnaires) to examine the metaphors participants used to describe their experiences in
the host society.
Study I: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 358 students
(international and British) studying in UK universities. Three different UK universities were
selected. Eight pre-existing questionnaires were first tested for validity and reliability, then
1 Harman, G. (2004). New directions in internationalizing higher education: Australia’s development as an
exporter of higher education services. Higher Education Policy, 17(1), 101-120. 2 Poyrazli, S., Arbona, C., Bullington, R., & Pisecco, S. (2001). Adjustment issues of Turkish college students
studying in the United States. College Student Journal, 35(1), 52-52.
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were utilised to examine the relationships between mental health and seven other independent
variables.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay
Study II: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 796 students
(international and British) studying in UK universities. Ten different UK universities were
selected. The previous eight pre-existing questionnaires used in Study I were used in Study II,
but the difference was that GHQ-12 was replaced by GHQ-28, and the IAI and SAI forms of
the Three Assimilation Indexes were excluded.
Study III: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 students
(international) studying in three UK universities. A semi-structured interview was conducted
with these students. This study used thematic analysis to categorise metaphors and analyse
the qualitative data.
With a response rate of 82%, Study I showed that international students from the Middle East
are less affected by cultural distress than other students from outside of Europe.
In addition, many students find themselves leaning more towards religion to deal with the
new cultural environment. Study II had an 80% response rate and found that there was an
association between three out of five predictor variables (coping flexibility, social support
and coping) with mental health, for both international and British students. In addition, the
study found that there was an association between three out of seven predictor variables
(coping strategy, religious problem solving, and acculturation) with mental health in
international students. In Study III, the metaphors supported the quantitative results in terms
of finding that a substantial number of the respondents had negative feelings about living in
the UK and found the new setting depressing. The findings of the two quantitative studies
(Study I and Study II) found that there is an association between international students and
British students and coping flexibility with mental health. This finding has been confirmed by
Study III which addressed metaphorical phrases used by international students.
These findings indicate that interventions are strongly required in order to prevent and control
potential psychological problems in both groups. The main recommendations are that regular
training sessions should be provided for all international students, giving strategies for coping
with the new culture. It is concluded that social support played a moderating role in the
relationship between culture stress as well as mental health only in international students.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay
These findings imply that strategies could be created to help students to cope with their
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mental issues and reduce the impact of distress they experience during their study. This might
have a positive effect on their academic achievement consequently.

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The Australian health care follows most of its health care policies and regimens from the UK health care policies. Moreover, over the years the UK trained Indian nurses have been found to be immigrating to Australia due to monetary benefits. A qualitative research was done to understand the experience of overseas nurses during their registration process at UK. A total 20 overseas nurses was interviewed for the study. All participants were from India. All the nurses were registered nurses in India and had clinical experience of 2-14 years in various areas of specialties. From the verbatim of the nurses, theoretical constructs were identified. It also contained the difficulties the overseas nurses experienced inorder to get their registration in the UK. The constructs identified in the study were communication issues, cross-cultural difference, role definition, feelings of self-worth.Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay

Registered Nurses and Midwives from around the world are facing great difficulty to find job sponsorship in Australia. Nadeine Myer, journalist working for expatriate nurses in Australia, reported an incident of an Indian Registered Nurse who came to Australia to work as an RN with the view to find job sponsorship as soon as she completed her registration. Unfortunately, she soon found out that selected hospitals in Australia were not interested in sponsoring foreign nurses with general clinical experience. After receiving her registration in Queensland, she had only days to find a sponsor before her visa expired. She did acquire any job and had to return to her country, crushed that her dream was now over. Psychological Distresses in International Students Essay