Abstract Background With the global spread of Chinese language and culture, an increasing number of overseas students are participating in international Chinese language education programs. However, due to language pressure, cultural shock, differences in learning styles, and barriers in cross-cultural communication, these students often experience psychological problems that are latent, cumulative, and delayed. Social adaptation difficulties are frequently accompanied by anxiety, loneliness, interpersonal withdrawal, and learning burnout, while existing student management systems provide limited psychological support for learners from cross-cultural backgrounds. Therefore, it is essential to construct a mental health support system tailored to international Chinese language education students and to examine its effectiveness in promoting social adaptation and psychological well-being. Methods A mixed-methods research design combining quantitative tracking and qualitative interviews was adopted. A total of 186 international students enrolled in the School of International Chinese Language Education at a university were included and randomly assigned by residential area to a psychological support intervention group (n = 93) and a routine management group (n = 93). The intervention lasted ten weeks and consisted of three core components. The first component was language-culture integrated support, including tiered language tutoring, cross-cultural communication training, and cultural scenario-based experiential courses. The second component was the construction of a peer mutual-support network, which established a “peer pairing mechanism” between Chinese and international students and implemented group cooperative tasks. The third component focused on optimizing psychological services, with counselors and psychology instructors forming a support team to provide emotional screening, crisis warning, and individual counseling. Psychological health and social adaptation were assessed using a cross-cultural adaptation scale, a university mental health scale, and a learning engagement score. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain students’ authentic experiences with the support system. Results After ten weeks of intervention, the psychological support group demonstrated significant improvements in emotional adaptation, learning adaptation, and interpersonal adaptation on the cross-cultural adaptation scale. The total score increased by 24.37% from baseline, substantially higher than the 9.54% improvement observed in the routine management group (p.01). Psychological health also showed a marked improvement, with anxiety and loneliness scores decreasing by 31.42% and 27.83% respectively, both superior to the control group (p.05). Learning engagement increased by 18.62%, significantly outperforming the control group (p.01). Interview feedback indicated that language support and peer assistance were perceived as the most influential positive factors, with students reporting enhanced sense of belonging and emotional safety. Discussion The findings demonstrate that constructing a mental health support system tailored to international Chinese language education students can effectively improve emotional well-being and social adaptation. The synergistic effect of language-culture integration, peer support networks, and professional psychological services constitutes the key mechanism underlying the observed intervention benefits. This study provides a replicable and scalable psychological support pathway for institutions managing international Chinese language education. Future research may expand the scope of interventions, incorporate online support platforms, and conduct long-term follow-up to verify sustained effects.
Xinchen Tu (Sun,) studied this question.
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