The role of social support and sociocultural adjustment for international students' mental health

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 893
• Main Authors: Razgulin, Jevgenij, Argustaitė-Zailskienė, Gita, Šmigelskas, Kastytis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 17-01-2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/477; 692/1807; Anxiety; Foreign students; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Mental Health; multidisciplinary; Reading comprehension; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social interactions; Social Support; Students; Students - psychology; Universities; Well being
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-27123-9

The study aims to assess the role of social support, sociocultural adjustment, and other social and demographic factors in international students' mental health. In total, 193 international first-year students studying Health and Technology Sciences in Lithuania filled out a self-report questionnaire. The study revealed that overall 59% of international students had symptoms of depression and 36%—of anxiety. Students' well-being was sufficient in 56% of the cases. The regression analyses were conducted to test the role of sociocultural adjustment, social support, English reading skills, and the study field for mental health and well-being. The multivariate regression model revealed that sociocultural adjustment is a stronger predictor compared to social support for depressiveness (βs = 0.42), anxiety (βs = 0.30), psychosomatic symptoms (βs = − 0.24), and subjective health (βs = 0.16), though social support was a stronger independent predictor for well-being (βs = 0.37). Moreover, sociocultural adjustment and social support were stronger predictors than gender, while English reading skills and study field were non-significant indicators.