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RESEARCH REPORT
International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress
CHRISTINE J. YEH 1 & MAYUKO INOSE
2
1 Teachers College, Columbia University;
2 Fordham University
abstract This study explored age, gender, reported English fluency, social support satis-
faction and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress among a sample of 359
international students. Results indicate that international students from Europe experienced less
acculturative stress than their counterparts from Asia, Central/Latin America, and Africa.
Moreover, English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness were all predictors
of acculturative stress. Implications for counselling and research are discussed.
In recent decades, the United States has attracted the largest number of students from all
over the world (Sandhu, 1995). During the 2000–1 academic year, there were a total of
547,867 international students studying at the academic institutions in the US (Institute
of International Education, 2001). The enrolment rate of international students has
increased 19.2% for the past five years (Institute of International Education, 2001).
Among international students, students from Asian countries represent more than half
(55%) and the second largest regional group, students from Europe, constitute 15% of
this group (Institute of International Education, 2001). The number of international
students raises several issues for college campuses in the US in a variety of ways
(Pedersen, 1991). In particular, international students pose many new challenges for
counsellors working at college counselling centres. The purpose of the present investi-
gation is to study the influence of reported English language fluency, social support
satisfaction, and social connectedness in predicting acculturative stress among inter-
Counselling Psychology Quarterly ISSN 0951–5070 print/ISSN 1469–3674 online # 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/0951507031000114058
Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 2003,
Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 15–28
Correspondence to: Christine J. Yeh, Ph.D., Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology,
Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, NY, NY, 10027, USA; e-mail:
national students from various regions. Specifically, acculturative stress refers to the
distinctive type of stress associated with individuals’ cross-cultural encounters, which can
manifest in physical, social and psychological problems (Berry et al., 1987).
It has been previously documented that international students tend to experience
more psychological problems than American students do (Leong and Chou, 1996; Mori,
2000; Padilla et al., 1986; Pedersen, 1991; Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1994). Research
investigations on international student populations have reported a variety of mental
health and personal concerns including language barriers, academic difficulties, financial
difficulties, interpersonal problems with American students as well as with their cona-
tional students, racial/ethnic discrimination, loss of social support, alienation, and
homesickness (Leong and Chou, 1996; Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992; Mori, 2000;
Pedersen, 1991).
Particularly, language difficulties appear to be the most challenging issue for the
majority of international students (Mori, 2000), since a lack of English skills is likely to
affect international students’ academic performance, and academic difficulties in turn
would affect their psychological adjustment (Lin and Yi, 1997). It may be especially
distressing for students who cannot express their academic ability in English well, because
many of them have had high academic achievement in their home countries (Pedersen,
1991). Moreover, language barriers often hinder international students from socially
interacting with their American peers (Hayes and Ling, 1994). Due to the many potential
barriers created by linguistic challenges, we predict that lower levels of English fluency
may predict higher levels of acculturative stress among international students.
In addition to the language difficulties, cross-cultural differences in social interaction
may also prevent international students from forming close relationships with American
students (Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992) and may contribute to acculturative stress. For
example, students from collectivistic cultural backgrounds (see Markus and Kitayama,
1991) may prioritize close relationships and may feel confused when interacting
with American students who tend to emphasize aspects of individualism, such as
independence, assertiveness, and self-reliance (Cross, 1995). Consequently, many inter-
national students perceive social relationships in US culture to be rather superficial
(Bulthuis, 1986; Cross, 1995), and feel disappointed and discouraged with their inter-
personal connections (Mori, 2000). Hence, although close relationships with American
students (host nationals) may predict better adjustment (Furnham and Alibhai, 1985),
international students tend to remain exclusively in limited groups of their fellow
nationals.
Furthermore, research indicates that a loss of social support has a significant
influence on the psychological well-being of international students (Hayes and Lin,
1994; Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992; Pedersen, 1991; Sandhu, 1995). Upon coming to
the US, international students tend to feel a deep sense of loss when leaving their families
and friends behind (Sandhu, 1995). It is also extremely challenging for them to establish
comparable social support systems in the US (Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992) and they
may feel dissatisfied with their new social relationships in the US. Simultaneously,
international students may become deprived of social support systems that typically
validate their sense of self-concept and self-esteem, and provide emotional and social
support (Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992; Pedersen, 1991; Sandhu, 1995). As a result,
16 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
they may feel anxious, alienated, or even disoriented in the unfamiliar environment
(Pedersen, 1991).
Mallinckrodt and Leong (1992) investigated the significance of social support among
international students and found that the quality of the social support system had not only
a direct but also a buffering effect when international students were undergoing
psychological stress. These authors concluded that social support, especially from one’s
academic program, is essential to the welfare of international students. Due to differing
cultural values with how they perceive social support systems, how satisfied international
students are with their social support networks may influence their levels of acculturative
stress.
In order to understand how international students relate to others in an unfamiliar
cultural environment, it is also important to understand their sense of social connected-
ness in addition to their satisfaction with their social support systems. Specifically, social
connectedness is defined as an aspect of the self that manifests the subjective recognition
of being in close relationship with the social world (Lee and Robbins, 1995, 1998). This
lasting sense of connectedness then directs individuals’ feelings, thoughts, and behaviours
in social situations (Lee and Robbins, 1998). Thus, an individual with a high sense of
connectedness can easily form relationships with others and participate in social groups
and activities, whereas, people who lack connectedness are inclined to experience low
self-esteem, anxiety, and depression (Lee and Robbins, 1998). For example, Lee et al. (in
press) found that college female students with low social connectedness tended to view
university campus life more negatively, which in turn contributed to their perceived stress
levels. Therefore, it is assumed that international students with high social connectedness
are likely to adjust to the new social environment more easily and will experience less
psychological stress than students with low social connectedness.
Together, social support and social connectedness may contribute to international
students’ acculturative stress. Acculturative stress often accompanies emotional pain,
such as, feelings of powerlessness, marginality, inferiority, loneliness, and perceived
alienation and discrimination (Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1998). Moreover, particularly
difficult acculturative stress experiences tend to remain within the individuals over a
long period of time (Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1998). By assessing international students’
acculturative stress, their psychological needs may be better served in the future.
Although international students tend to experience numerous mental health con-
cerns as mentioned above, past research suggests that they underuse mental health
services (Bradley et al., 1995; Dadfar and Friedlander, 1982). Moreover, when inter-
national students, especially Asian students, seek counselling services, it is likely that they
present somatic discomforts rather than psychological problems (Lippincott and
Meirzwa, 1995; Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992). Mori (2000) suggests various reasons
for the underuse of mental health services by international students, including cultural
differences in beliefs about mental health, stigma attached to seeking help, unfamiliarity
with counselling services, and a lack of information about available resources. In the
current study, we are interested in the relationship between English language fluency,
social support, social connectedness, as predictors of acculturative stress. Understanding
such relationships will help counsellors better serve the growing international student
population.
International students’ acculturative stress 17
Hypotheses
This particular study will focus on how age, gender, self-reported English language
fluency, social connectedness, and social support satisfaction, may predict acculturative
distress among a sample of international students from three geographic regions. Based
on an extensive review of the literature, we have generated the following hypotheses:
1. Higher levels of self-reported English language fluency will predict lower levels of
acculturative stress.
2. Higher levels of social support satisfaction will predict lower levels of acculturative
stress.
3. Higher levels of social connectedness will predict lower levels of acculturative stress.
In addition to these hypotheses, we also had the following research questions:
1. How will the gender, age, and geographic region of the international students predict
acculturative stress?
Method
Participants
Participants included 372 international undergraduate and graduate students from a large
urban university in the northeastern part of the US. Since our sample represented 77
unique countries, we had to combine ethnic origins into larger groupings. Designations
regarding these geographic regions were based on previously published categories for
investigating differences across international student groups in prior research investiga-
tions (Barratt and Huba, 1994; Schram and Lauver, 1988; Sodowsky and Plake, 1992;
Surdham and Collins, 1984). Participants’ were from the following geographic regions:
. Asia (61% (n ¼227));
. Europe (16.9% (n ¼63));
. Central/Latin America (10.8% (n ¼40));
. Africa (7.8% (n ¼29));
. North America (3.0% (n ¼11)); and
. Oceania (0.5% (n ¼2)).
Due to small samples sizes, the geographic region categories of Oceania (n ¼2) and North America (n ¼11) were excluded from the analyses, leaving a sample size of 359. The mean age of the final sample was 27.04 years (SD ¼5.43), the age ranged from 18–58 years. Females comprised of 60.4% (n ¼217) of the sample, males, 39.6% (n ¼142).
Procedure
Participants were distributed surveys in international student organizations and clubs.
Participants were not compensated for their participation and were informed that
participation was voluntary. In total, 406 survey packets were distributed and 383 were
18 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
returned (94.3% return rate). Eleven survey packets were deemed unusable due to
incomplete or blank responses.
Instruments
Participants were asked to complete a Demographic questionnaire, the Acculturative
Stress Scale for International Students (Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1994), the Social Con-
nectedness Scale (Lee and Robbins, 1995), and the Social Support Questionnaire-Short
Form (Sarason et al., 1987).
Demographic questionnaire. Respondents were asked to provide information about
their age, gender, marital status, educational level, country of origin, racial background,
length of stay in the US, native language and self-reported fluency of English. Self-
reported fluency was assessed using a composite score from the three following questions:
1. ‘What is your present level of English fluency?’;
2. ‘How comfortable are you communicating in English?’; and
3. ‘How often do you communicate in English?’
Participants were provided with a 5-point Likert scale to select their responses. Cron-
bach’s alpha was assessed for the 3-items as 0.78. This method of measuring and
assessing English language fluency has been previously documented by Barratt and
Huba (1994) and Cross (1995).
Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS). ASSIS (Sandhu and
Asrabadi, 1994) was developed in order to assess the adjustment problems of interna-
tional students. It is a 36-item scale using a 7-point Likert scale (1¼Strongly disagree to 7¼Strongly agree). The ASSIS consists of the following subscales: Perceived discrimina- tion (eight items), Homesickness (four items), Perceived hate (five items), Fear (four
items), Stress due to change (three items), Guilt (two items), and Miscellaneous (10
items). The total score was used for data analysis.
The seven subscales include: Perceived discrimination (‘I am treated differently
in social situations’), Homesickness (‘I miss the people and country of my origin’),
Perceived hate (‘People show hatred toward me nonverbally’), Fear (‘I fear for my
personal safety because of my different cultural background’), Stress due to change (‘I
feel uncomfortable to adjust to new cultural values’), Guilt scale (‘I feel guilty to leave my
family and friends behind’) and Miscellaneous (‘I feel nervous to communicate in
English’). It is reported that ASSIS has generated internal consistency scores ranging
from 87 to 0.95 for the total items as measured by Cronbach’s alpha (Darcy and Durante,
2000; Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1994; Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1998).
Sandhu and Asrabadi (1994) encourage the use of the total score of the ASSIS. In
the case of using the total scores, higher scores are indicative of greater acculturative
stress perceived by the respondents. They also suggest it is possible to use subscale scores
when researchers or practitioners are interested in determining the specific sources
of acculturative stress. However, since our study intended to examine international
students’ acculturative stress in general, using the total scores was appropriate for the
International students’ acculturative stress 19
purpose of this study. For the current study, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total
score was calculated as 0.94.
Social Connectedness Scale (SCS). The SCS (Lee and Robbins, 1995) is designed to
measure the level of interpersonal closeness that an individual experiences in his or her
social world (e.g. friends, peers, society) as well as the level of difficulty in maintaining
this sense of closeness. It consists of eight items using a 6-point Likert scale (1¼Strongly agree to 6¼Strongly disagree) and higher scores indicate more of a perceived sense of connectedness. A sample item from the SCS is, ‘I feel disconnected from the world
around me.’ A previous study using the SCS generated a high internal consistency of
0.91 (Lee and Robbins, 1995). For the current investigation, Cronbach’s alpha coeffi-
cient was calculated as 0.93.
Social Support Questionnaire-Short Form (SSQSR). The SSQSR (Sarason et al., 1987)
assesses perceived social support in two dimensions: Network and Satisfaction. Scores
from the individual subscales may be used in data analyses (Perrone and Worthington,
2001) and we selected to use only the Satisfaction subscale for the purposes of our
research hypotheses. The Network subscale consists of six items that measures the
number of people (family member or non-family member) whom an individual can
rely on when he or she needs support. A sample item for the Network subscale is, ‘Whom
can you really count on to be dependable when you need help?’
The Satisfaction subscale subsequently measures an individual’s satisfaction with his
or her perceived social support using a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1¼very dissatisfied to 6¼very satisfied. Reported coefficient alphas for both the Network and Satisfaction subscales ranged from 0.90 to 0.93, respectively (Sarason et al., 1987) and for
the Satisfaction subscale only, the alpha was 0.94 (Perrone and Worthington, 2001). For
the overall scale, previous research has generated an alpha coefficient of 0.71 (Hudson
et al., 2000). For the current research project, we only used the Satisfaction subscale and
computed a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.91.
Results
The means, standard deviations and intercorrelations of the variables are presented in
Table I. Preliminary analyses were conducted to assess differences among the main
demographic variables. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to
investigate whether there were any differences between geographic regions (independent
variable) and age and years in the United States (dependent variables). The MANOVA,
using Wilk’s lambda to estimate the F statistic, revealed a significant effect for age only,
F(6, 684) 5.98, p < 0.001.
Post hoc analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests revealed significant differences between
ages for participants from Asia versus Africa and Latin/Central America and for
European versus participants from Africa and Latin/Central America. Specifically, Asians
were significantly younger than participants from Africa (p < 0:001) and Latin/Central
America (p < 0:033) and Europeans were significantly younger than participants from
Africa (p < 0:000) and Latin/Central America (p < 0:05). Due to unequal cell sizes and
20 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
International students’ acculturative stress 21
Table I. Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of the study’s variables
Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Overall sample (n ¼359) 1. Gender
2. Age 27.04 5.43 – .21* 7.01 .02 .05 7.01 3. Years in the US 3.26 3.42 – .09 .12* .05 7.02 4. English 9.50 3.30 – .26** .20** 7.30** 5. SCS 4.66 1.12 – .35** 7.48** 6. SSQSR 5.37 .77 – 7.28** 7. ASSIS 3.02 .90 –
Asian sample (n ¼227) 1. Gender
2. Age 26.48 5.00 – .11 7.11 .06 .05 7.01 3. Years in the US 3.34 3.43 – .10 .14* .13 7.02 4. English 8.85 3.31 – .22** .20** 7.30** 5. SCS 4.60 1.05 – .29** 7.45** 6. SSQSR 5.34 .74 – 7.31** 7. ASSIS 3.22 .83 –
European sample (n ¼63) 1. Gender
2. Age 25.84 4.27 – .07 .18 .14 .34** 7.23 3. Years in the US 2.64 2.61 – .03 .12 7.40 7.16 4. English 10.52 2.69 – .40** .31** 7.31** 5. SCS 4.92 1.16 – .56** 7.49** 6. SSQSR 5.40 .86 – 7.29** 7. ASSIS 2.40 .80 –
Central/Latin American sample (n ¼40) 1. Gender
2. Age 28.87 5.01 – .47** 7.30 7.22 7.27 .24 3. Years in the US 3.03 3.73 – .07.01 7.31 7.09 4. English 9.38 3.09 – .27 .20 7.16 5. SCS 4.38 1.34 – .26 7.65** 6. SSQSR 5.45 .77 – 7.23 7. ASSIS 2.92 .97 –
African sample (n ¼29) 1. Gender
2. Age 31.64 8.46 – .53** .08 7.08 7.16 7.09 3. Years in the US 3.84 4.40 – .26 .24 .17 7.09 4. English 12.50 2.41 – 7.18 7.10 .24 5. SCS 5.02 1.14 – .53** 7.40** 6. SSQSR 5.45 .89 – 7.26 7. ASSIS 3.02 .95 –
Note. English¼English fluency; SCS¼ the Social Connectedness Scale (SCS) (Lee and Robbins, 1995); SSQSR¼Social Support Questionnaire-Short Form (Sarason et al., 1987); ASSIS¼Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1994). The mean scores correspond to the range
of end points for each of the scales. Higher scores for each of the scales represent a higher amount of a
particular variable.
*p < :05; **p < :01
unequal variances for the African subgroup, we analysed post-hoc differences using
Dunnett’s T statistic for comparisons involving the geographic region of Africa only.
Other post-hoc analyses were performed using Tukey’s statistic. Table I includes means
and standard deviations for age for the geographic regions. Table II includes information
about gender across all of the geographic regions.
Next, chi-square analyses were used to assess any differences across geographic
regions in terms of gender. Chi-square analyses revealed that the Asian geographic region
was significantly likely to have more females than the subgroups of Africa, Europe, and
Latin/Central America �2 (3, 359) 9.57, p < 0:05. See Table I for a complete breakdown
of gender by geographic region.
Based on these preliminary analyses and our stated hypotheses, stepwise regression
analyses were performed using age, gender, region, English fluency, social connected-
ness, and social support network satisfaction as predictor variables and acculturative
stress as the criterion variable (see Table II). The overall regression model was significant
F(8, 359)¼23.75, p < 0:001 and accounted for 34% of the variance in the acculturative stress (adjusted R
2 ¼0.34), region (p < 0:001), English fluency (p < 0:001), and social connectedness and social support network satisfaction (p < 0:001) were all significant
predictors of acculturative stress. Age and gender were not significant predictors of
acculturative stress.
Specifically, region accounted for 11.4% of the variance and significantly predicted
acculturative stress; Europeans were less likely to experience acculturative stress than
were non-European participants. Consistent with our hypothesis, English language
fluency was responsible for 5.2% of the variance providing evidence that participants
who are more fluent in English experience less acculturative stress. Finally, consistent
with our hypothesis, social connectedness and social support network satisfaction
contributed to 18.3% of the variance demonstrating that international students who
22 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
Table II. Summary of Stepwise Regression Analyses for Variables Predicting ASSIS (N ¼ 359)
Variables B SE B � t
Block 1
Age 7.16 .32 7.027 7.507 Gender 3.13 3.40 .047 .922
Block 2
Asian region vs. other 4.03 6.42 .060 .53
Europe region vs. other 712.59 3.61 7.297 73.49*** Latin/Central vs. other 72.26 2.57 7.065 7.876
Block 3
English 72.40 .512 7.243 74.69***
Block 4
SCS 71.42 .175 7.386 78.10*** SSQSR 75.25 1.97 7.126 72.67**
Note. English¼English fluency; SCS¼ the Social Connectedness Scale (SCS) (Lee & Robbins, 1995); SSQSR¼Social Support Questionnaire-Short Form (Sarason et al., 1987); ASSIS¼Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (Sandhu and Asrabadi, 1994). Total R
2 ¼ .34. *p < :05. **p < :01. ***p < :001
felt more socially connected and were more satisfied with their social networks experi-
enced less acculturative stress.
Discussion
We investigated to what extent international students’ age, gender, English fluency, social
connectedness and social support network satisfaction predicted acculturative distress.
The results indicate that the overall regression model is significant. Moreover, geographic
region, English language fluency, social connectedness and social support network
satisfaction all had significant unique contributions to the criterion variable. This research
will help to illuminate some critical factors involved in how international students adapt
in a new cultural environment.
According to our results, self-reported English language fluency was a significant
predictor of acculturative distress. Specifically, higher frequency of use, fluency level, and
the degree to which participants felt comfortable speaking English, predicted lower levels
of acculturative distress among international students in our sample. We believe this
finding is associated with the fact that higher English fluency may be related to smoother
interactions with majority group members (Barratt and Huba, 1994; Hayes and Lin,
1994); one may be able to interact with more ease with people in this new cultural setting.
This may lead to greater feelings of adjustment. In addition, international students with
higher self-reported levels of English language fluency may be less embarrassed and less
self-conscious about their accent or ethnic background (Barratt and Huba, 1994). They
may be able to interact more confidently in their daily lives (asking for help, ordering
food, meeting new people, etc.). Finally, we believe that higher levels of English language
fluency would help international students perform at a higher level in some academic
classes since they may feel more comfortable speaking in class and participating in
discussions (Kao and Gansneder, 1995).
English language is also inextricably linked with culture. Perhaps relatedly, our
results also indicate that European international students were significantly less likely to
experience acculturative distress than were students from the geographic regions of Asia,
Africa and Latin/Central America. It is possible that European students experienced
less acculturative distress because they may encounter less racism and discrimination
than their Asian, African and Latin/Central American counterparts. In fact, all of our
European participants were White racially, which may have helped them ‘fit in’ more
easily to American society.
Moreover, since many American cultural values are based on White, European
norms (Carter, 1991) international students from Europe may have experienced less of a
contrast in cultural patterns of behaviour and value systems—allowing for a smoother
adjustment in their daily interactions. While European students certainly experienced
some differences in terms of cultural values, they may not have been as different as those
students in the sample from other geographic regions. It is also not clear from our
analyses, to what extent European students’ lower levels of acculturative distress are
related to their English language fluency.
Also consistent with our hypotheses, we found that social connectedness and social
support network satisfaction were both significant predictors of acculturative distress
International students’ acculturative stress 23
among international students. We believe this result is related to the strong emphasis on
interdependence and close connections of many international groups, including Asians,
Africans and Latin/Central Americans (Markus and Kitayama, 1991). Specifically, in
western cultures, including North America and European countries, an individual is
expected to become independent from others, express one’s unique attributes, and
behave according to these own inner attributes (Markus and Kitayama, 1991).
In contrast, for individuals from Asian, African, and Latin American cultures,
connectedness with important others is so significant that their actual conception of
self is determined by references to feelings and behaviours of close others (Markus and
Kitayama, 1991). Hence, upon coming to the US, international students from collecti-
vistic cultures may encounter fundamental cross-cultural differences in notions of self. It
is assumed that the strong emphasis on independence from members of the majority
culture in the US would perplex those students. In fact, past research has demonstrated
that cross-cultural differences in self-concept can contribute to the process of adjustment
of international students (Cross, 1995). We believe that feelings of social connectedness
were strong predictors of acculturative stress due to the priority placed on relationships by
international students from interdependent cultures.
Moreover, by leaving their countries of origin, international students are deprived of
important others who have endorsed their sense of self in the past. As a result, it is likely
that their sense of self is shaken, which can result in significant distress. In order to cope
with such distress, international students with interdependent selves strongly desire
alternative social networks that can validate their sense of self. While relationships are
important to many students, for international students from interdependent cultures,
connectedness to others and the quality of those connections are essential aspects of their
self-identity, values, and ways of interacting as a person (Markus and Kitayama, 1991).
Moreover, for international students experiencing difficulties with adjusting to a new
cultural setting, close connections and social support networks are critical ways of coping
and dealing with stress and mental health concerns, especially when they are far from
their families (Yeh and Wang, 2000).
While this is the first study to investigate English language fluency, social connect-
edness, and social support satisfaction as predictors of acculturative distress, there are
several limitations to this research project that warrant discussion. First, our sample was
limited to international students from an urban university in the northeastern region of
the United States. While international students from this location and site may share
similar experiences with other international students, these common characteristics were
not empirically tested and generalizability of our findings should be cautioned. Future
research should explore the experiences of international students in other geographic
locations and universities. In addition, we also did not collect or assess information on the
influence of academic major on acculturative distress. Further research should also
examine how academic major or area of study may influence international students’
adjustment to the United States. Finally, our study measured social connectedness and
not the extent to which students felt they ‘fit in’ to American society. Since social
connectedness may be just one aspect of collectivism, it would be important to more
specifically study what it means to ‘fit in’ and which students are more likely to have
access to this experience (EX. White versus Asian students).
24 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
Moreover, in order to measure English language fluency, we used a composite score
from three self-reported items. While this method of measuring language has been used in
the research literature (Barratt and Huba, 1994; Cross, 1995), the accuracy of these self-
reported items remains unknown. Hence, future studies may try to use more exact
measures of language fluency such as scores on the verbal Graduate Record Exam. It is
also unclear from our methodology if European international students experienced less
acculturative distress due to language proficiency or due to other cultural factors (EX.
fewer racist encounters, etc.). Future research studies should further explore the factors
contributing to European international students’ adjustment to living in the United
States.
In addition, due to small sample sizes, our data were analysed by geographic region
rather than by specific country of origin. In fact, our sample reported 77 different
countries of origin, which would be impossible to analyse statistically given the amount of
participants within each sample. Although our designations for geographic region was
based on previous research using international student samples (Sodowsky and Plake,
1992; Spencer-Rodgers, 2000), there are vast cultural differences within each of these
regions that were not addressed. Due to these potential culture-specific differences,
additional investigations should use qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry to
examine such differences among international students.
Finally, all participants completed the ASSIS in English, not in their native
languages. This scale has only been used and published using the English language
and was normed with participants responding in English. Items on the ASSIS were partly
generated by a focus group of international students who were all non-native English
speakers. The ASSIS was then validated by using a sample of 128 international under-
graduate and graduate students from various countries. Thus, items on the ASSIS were
specifically developed for international students whose native languages are mostly not
English. It is assumed that items are written in a way enabling non-native English
speakers, who possess appropriate levels of English ability to study at colleges and
graduate schools in the US, to appreciate the meaning of the items. Furthermore, Sandhu
and Asrabadi (1998) report that the ASSIS requires an eighth-grade reading level in
English for a respondent to complete the scale. All of our participants were officially
enrolled at colleges and graduate schools in the US, which only accepts students with
appropriate levels of English ability. Thus, administering the ASSIS in English appeared
to be adequate for the sample in our study. Although it is ideal to employ scales written in
each participant’s native language, in reality, it is highly unrealistic since participants in
our study represented a total of 77 countries in which numerous languages are spoken.
Developing scales, which are well translated in numerous native languages as well as
psychometrically equivalent to the original scale, can be a daunting task for researchers
but a possible goal for a large scale future investigation. Moreover, there were not enough
participants in each country to analyse such data in our sample.
Conclusion and implications for counselling
The findings generated from this study highlight the significance of providing services for
international students in terms of ongoing social connections. Specifically, international
International students’ acculturative stress 25
students who felt socially connected and who were satisfied with their social networks
were less likely to experience acculturative distress. A critical implication of this finding is
that counsellors should develop programmes that build community and connections for
international students.
Since international students have been found to underuse individual counselling
(Bradley et al., 1995; Mori, 2000) and have negative attitudes towards seeking profes-
sional help (Dadfar and Friedlander, 1982; Sandhu, 1995), future counselling efforts
may focus on developing alternative group-oriented ways of helping international
students that emphasize their strong priority on interdependence and social connected-
ness. For example, counsellors may collaborate with various student organizations,
clubs, dormitories, the office of international student affairs, and ESL teachers to
help international students build communities and create informal networks of
support.
In particular, if we consider the relevance of ‘fitting in’, a peer programme in
which an international student is matched with an American student appears to be
valuable in promoting international students’ interactions with American students (Abe
et al., 1998; Poyrazil et al., 2002). College counselling centres can work together with
other campus offices, such as the office of student affairs, to develop a peer programme
for international students. Furthermore, various group activities, including skill-training
workshops and cultural exchange groups can foster a sense of community for inter-
national students (Hayes and Lin, 1994; Jacob and Greggo, 2001). Such informal group
meetings can also provide an opportunity for international students to share their
concerns with fellow international students as well as American students. In addition,
Jacob and Greggo (2001) propose a development of a cultural exchange programme
between international students and graduate counselling practicum students wherein
international students can receive a less formal manner of counselling services, and
counselling practicum students are able to learn cultural sensitivity, which is required for
multicultural counselling competence. While many international students may potentially
benefit from individual counselling, for those who are reluctant to seek help for their
acculturative distress, such alternative approaches may prove advantageous (Pedersen,
1991; Sandhu, 1995).
Furthermore, counsellors who meet with international students should also be
prepared and equipped to discuss relational issues concerning social connectedness
and international students’ satisfaction with their existing social support networks
(Mallinckrodt and Leong, 1992). International student clients may also need assistance
in developing closer and more satisfying relationships and in clarifying their needs in
existing relationships. As an example of emphasizing the importance of social support
network for international students, Pedersen (1991) suggests asking an international
student to bring his or her friend or significant other into some of the counselling
sessions. With the extra support from the international student’s social milieu, counsel-
lors may be better able to address the value of maintaining satisfactory social support
networks. While much of individual counselling may focus on individual goals and needs,
counsellors need to be cognizant of the importance of feeling socially connected and
satisfied with existing social support networks.
26 Christine J. Yeh and Mayuko Inose
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Tai Chang, Winnie Ma, Ramona Shih, Jennifer Weiner, Marion
Boultbee and Ellen Cohen for their excellent assistance with this project.
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