A Longitudinal Study on International Students’ Stress, Problem Focused Coping and Cross-Cultural Adaptation in China 来华留学生跨文化压力应对和适应研究

We conducted a longitudinal study to explore how the relationship between perceived cultural distance, stress- and problem-focused coping strategies may influence socio-cultural adaptation for international students in China. We collected longitudinal data on overseas students during the Fall semester of September 2013. Data were recollected 90 days later. The results show that: (1) perceived cultural distance did not predict the outcome of socio-cultural adaptation; (2) non-Asian students used more problem-focused coping strategies than Asian students; (3) interaction effect between stress, coping strategy and culture of origin is significant: for non-Asian students, problem-focused coping strategies alleviated the negative impact of stress on adaptation; and for Asian students, problem-focused coping strategies exacerbated the negative impact of stress on adaptation.