Open Access
ARTICLE
Stress Coping of Chinese International Students in Face of COVID 19 Pandemic: Cultural Characteristics
Mian Xia1,2,3,*, Changming Duan4
1 School of Psychology, China Central Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China
2 Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
3 Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430079, China
4 Department of Educational Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
* Corresponding Author: Mian Xia. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Psychological assistance for public during the pandemic of COVID-19)
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2020, 22(3), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.32604/IJMHP.2020.011117
Received 20 April 2020; Accepted 10 June 2020; Issue published 14 August 2020
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the stress and coping strategy of Chinese International Students (CISs) during the epidemic, and to explore
the relationship between identification with Chinese cultural beliefs and coping
strategies, positive experience, negative emotion and need for psychological support. Two hundred and thirty CISs participated in the study by filling out a series
of questionnaires that we designed. The series of questionnaires contained six
scales: Pandemic Related Stress (PRS), Identification with Chinese Cultural
Beliefs (ICCB), Stress Coping Strategy (SCS), Positive Experience (PE) and
Negative Emotion (NE) and Need for Psychological Support (NPS). The results
showed that CISs experienced an above moderate level of direct and indirect pandemic related stress. To cope with the stress, participants valued active coping and
making self-adjustment. The regression analysis shows ICCB could positively
predict coping strategy and positive experience, and negatively predict negative
emotions. ICCB is also positively related to the need for psychological support.
That is to say, the identification with Chinese culture beliefs could help CISs
use positive strategies to cope with the epidemic and more likely to have positive
experience and reduce negative emotions. We believe that the cultural identity and
cultural values of Chinese students studying abroad may have helped them to
effectively choose their responses and strategies in the face of the serious challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Xia, M., Duan, C. (2020). Stress Coping of Chinese International Students in Face of COVID 19 Pandemic: Cultural Characteristics.
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 22(3), 159–172. https://doi.org/10.32604/IJMHP.2020.011117
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