a growing experience - Student Services - University of Melbourne

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSEarlier studies of well-being focused on the part played by external, usuallydemographic, variables in well-being. In his 1967 review, Wilson summed up thecorrelates of ‘avowed happiness’ in his description of a happy person as a “young,healthy, well-educated, well-paid, extroverted, optimistic, worry-free, religious,married person with high self-esteem, high job morale, modest aspirations, of eithersex and of a wide range of intelligence” (Wilson, 1967:294). Since then, it hasbecome clear that external variables account for a relatively small amount of thevariance in reported well-being (Diener et al., 1999). What is important is to look atthe interaction of the person and the situation – how the individual perceives asituation and how he or she interacts with that situation.It is inevitable that there are events, contexts or transitions that challenge the personand the person’s well-being in life – the death of a loved one, illness, winning thelottery or losing a limb (Diener et al., 1999), intergenerational family conflict (Lee,Su & Yoshida, 2005), unemployment (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinicki,2005), work stress (Danna & Griffin, 1999; Siu, Spector, Cooper, & Lu, 2005),working in a foreign country (Stahl & Caligiuri, 2005), or becoming an internationalstudent (Constantine, Anderson, Berkel, Caldwell, & Utsey, 2005; Constantine,Kindaichi, Okazaki, Gainor & Baden, 2005). It is the way in which people respond tosuch situations that is important for their well-being. This brings to the fore twoconcepts that are now central to theories of well-being. The first is the concept ofadaptation or diminishing reaction to the situation over time. The second is theconcept of coping, the general strategy or approach adopted to manage or deal withthe situation. Coping strategies are usually categorised as problem, control-focusedapproaches aimed at mastering the underlying cause of the stressful situation oremotional, symptom-focused approaches that direct effort towards controlling theemotional responses to the situation (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).A considerable body of knowledge has been built up at The University of Melbourneand in the research literature about international students’ perceptions of theiracademic challenges and experiences, together with some related aspects of theirexperiences during their stay in a new culture. Less is known about the physical andmental health and well-being of international students.As the discussion of the literature indicates, assumptions and assertions have beenmade about the psychological anxiety, stress and depression experienced byinternational students. To what extent do students experience these symptoms? Howdoes the physical health of the international students prior to translocation comparewith physical health here, in the perception of students? What use do students makeof the university health and counselling services? Do they use university medicalservices more readily than counselling services as the literature suggests (Church,1982; Lee & Mixon, 1995; Mori, 2000)? Is there an increase is international students’risk-taking behaviour when in Australia? Are they vulnerable to experiences of harm,discrimination and abuse, as a recent report suggests (Deumert, Marginson, Nyland,Ramia & Sawir, 2004)? To what extent do international students feel they are able toestablish a balanced and healthy lifestyle while studying in Melbourne? Doesconnectedness to the university and/or a support network in Melbourne act as aprotective factor? These are some of the questions that the study sought to explore.Rosenthal, Russell & Thomson, 2006 21