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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES, Health&Kinesiology Department, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, 158P Read Building, College Station, TX 77843-4243, 979-845-8726, misra@hlkn.tamu.edu
The purpose of this research is to examine the academic stress (stressors and reactions to stressors) of international students by testing a conceptual model based on primary stressor, secondary stressor, and effect of mediators. Life stress (language problems, cultural adjustment, financial concerns, etc) is the primary stressor in this research. It is hypothesized that life stress will influence their academic stress (secondary stressor). Social support is the mediator variable in the model. The sample comprised of a random sample of 143 international students from two midwestern universities. The mean age was 24.7 years. ANOVA was used to examine zero-order gender differences and structural equation modeling was used to assess the relationships among academic stress, life stress, and social support. ANOVA showed no statistically significant difference by gender for academic stressors. However, females exhibited higher reactions to stressors than males. Males and females did not differ in their perceived social support and life stress. Structural equation model results provide support for the provisional acceptance of the proposed model. The model explained 42% of the variance of the academic stressors and 76% for reactions to stressors. Mediating effects of social support was observed and it exhibited the strongest direct effects on academic stressor.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Students, International
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.