Acculturation level, perceived English fluency, perceived social support level, and depression among Taiwanese international students.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between acculturation, perceived English fluency, social support, and depression among 112 graduate Taiwanese international students. Ordinary Least Squares analyses were conducted on 112 graduate Taiwanese international students from a university in southeastern United States. Results indicated that those individuals who were at risk of depressive feelings were more likely to be female Taiwanese students, low acculturated students, and students who have low perceived English fluency. An examination of potential mediating variables indicated that perceived English fluency mediated the effects of acculturation level on depression for both males and females. ********** Recent studies have indicated that international students experience psychological disturbance at least as high as or higher than students of the majority culture. According to Leong and Sedlacek (1986) adjustment problems are more prevalent among international students than U.S. students. As cited by Yeh and Inose (2003), international student populations often report personal as well as mental concerns. Personal concerns include language barriers, academic difficulties, financial difficulties, racial/ethnic discrimination, loss of social support while mental distress comprise of depression, homesickness, alienation, and loneliness (Leong & Chou, 1994; Moil, 2000). These adjustment problems in turn can affect international students' academic performance, psychological and physical health, level of satisfaction with their cross-cultural experiences, and attitudes toward individuals of the host country (Wan, Chapman, & Biggs, 1992). While individual ramifications are apparent among international students, the explanations for these ramifications have stimulated considerable debate over the last few years. One popular explanation is that of culture shock. As cited by Fernandez (1988), culture shock includes all those beliefs and expectations about how people should speak and act; the social structure and organization; the relationship and rules that govern kinship systems; one's ethnicity; one's socioeconomic status; and the ideals, customs, and learned behavior that have become second nature to a person (Fernandez, p. 158). According to the culture shock explanation, once individuals are faced with an alien environment, feelings of disorientation and helplessness are generated (Sue, 1981). These negative feelings evolve when international students discover that their formerly adaptive behaviors and skills are no longer effective in coping with new environmental stressors. Moreover, due to transitory length of stay in the United States, international students often have to adapt quickly to the different values and beliefs that they are not accustomed to in their home country. Consequently, there is an increase possibility of experiencing psychological distress when international students are exposed to rapid changes and often-disparate values and beliefs between the home and host countries. According to Leong and Chou, the question of racial identity is a two-dimensional problem. The first question relates to how individuals view their own culture, and the second question relates to how they view the dominant host culture. Acculturation levels based on Sue and Sue's model (1973) has been shown to impact mental health. For instance, Wong (2001) indicated that cultural orientation and interpersonal relationships were significant predictors of depression among inner-city Asian American adolescents. According to Wong, Asian American adolescents with high orientation toward ethnic culture and low orientation toward mainstream culture experienced greater depression than those with high orientation toward American culture and low orientation toward ethnic culture. One of the common stressors faced by international students is overcoming the language barrier. Recent studies on inter national students have found that international students reported language difficulty as one of their concerns (Lin & Yi, 1997; Moil, 2000; Yeh & Inose, 2003). …

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