Social Support and Acculturative Stress of International Students

Ika Febrian Kristiana, Nugraha Arif Karyanta, Ermida Simanjuntak, Unika Prihatsanti, Tri Muji Ingarianti and Muhammad Shohib
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Ika Febrian Kristiana: Faculty of Psychology, Diponegoro University, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
Nugraha Arif Karyanta: Doctoral Program of Psychology, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia
Ermida Simanjuntak: Faculty of Psychology, Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya, Surabaya 60265, Indonesia
Unika Prihatsanti: Faculty of Psychology, Diponegoro University, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
Tri Muji Ingarianti: Doctoral Program of Psychology, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia
Muhammad Shohib: Doctoral Program of Psychology, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60286, Indonesia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Continuing to study abroad brings challenges, apart from academic demands. International students are prone to acculturation stress as a consequence of cultural differences. Many research reports show that social support is a great buffer against experienced stress, but there has thus far been no study that analyzes the real effect of social support on acculturation stress. This meta-analysis study aims to investigate the true effect of social support on acculturation stress of international students based on studies reporting it. A meta-analysis was performed following PRISMA. The electronic databases used were Science-Direct, ERIC, ProQuest, Google Scholar (only for ETD), and opengrey.edu, with the article year limitations being 2009–2019. Eight (8) studies were involved in the meta-analysis. There were three instruments of acculturation stress and five instruments of social support that were used in the different studies. The effect size analysis showed that there was no difference in the effects of eight studies (z = −0.553; SE = 0.497; 95% CI = −1.248–−0.699; p = 0.580). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant moderator variable, the instruments used were quite diverse. The role of a moderator, other than gender, was not used because of limited information from the studies used. Social support plays a major role in reducing acculturation stress in international students. However, studies involving moderator and confounding roles need to be conducted.

Keywords: stress acculturative; social support; international students; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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