Emotional disorder recognition and mental health intervention IN international Chinese education: an empirical study

Abstract Background As Chinese language learning gains global popularity, international Chinese learners increasingly face psychological pressures from language barriers, cultural shock, and academic adaptation, leading to emotional disorders like anxiety and depression. Previous studies have documented the high prevalence of their mental health issues but lack systematic exploration of context-specific recognition indicators and targeted interventions. To address this gap, this study aimed to construct a context-adaptive emotional disorder recognition system and verify the effectiveness of a comprehensive intervention model for these learners. Methods A mixed method of cross-sectional survey and quasi-experiment was adopted. A baseline survey was conducted on 620 international students using SAS, SDS, and a self-designed Chinese Learning Adaptation Stress Questionnaire, screening 120 students with emotional disorder tendencies (SAS ≥50 or SDS ≥53), who were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 60) and a control group (n = 60). The experimental group received a 12-week comprehensive intervention (language support, cross-cultural guidance, group/individual counseling), while the control group only had regular mental health lectures. Post-intervention and 3-month follow-up measurements were conducted, with data analyzed via SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0. Results The baseline detection rate of emotional disorder tendencies was 19.35% (120 cases). Significant differences in emotional disorder and learning adaptation stress scores were observed between the two groups after intervention (see Table 1). The experimental group maintained improvement at the 3-month follow-up, while the control group showed score rebound. Regression analysis identified Chinese proficiency improvement, cross-cultural adaptation enhancement, and group support participation as key intervention effect factors (all p.05). Discussion This study has confirmed that the constructed adaptive emotional disorder recognition system can effectively detect the emotional disorder tendencies of international Chinese language learners, and promote academic adaptation with significant short-term and long-term effects. At the practical level, the research provides operational emotional disorder recognition tools and intervention plans for Chinese international education institutions, helping teachers to timely detect and intervene in learners' mental health issues; At the theoretical level, it enriches the research results on mental health in the field of Chinese international education and provides a new perspective for exploring the interactive mechanism between language learning and mental health. The research has limitations such as a small sample size and limited coverage of learners' nationalities. In the future, the sample scope can be expanded to include diverse scenarios such as online Chinese learning, to explore the long-term dynamic changes in emotional disorders among international Chinese learners; An intelligent recognition and warning system for emotional disorders can also be developed in conjunction with intelligent technology to further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of mental health interventions.