Mindfulness-based coping and the psychological well-being of Chinese international students

Relationships among acculturative stress, mindfulness-based coping (i.e., mindfulness or self-compassion), and three dimensions of psychological well-being of Chinese international students in the U.S. were examined using a survey study and a pilot workshop study. Anxious arousal (AA) and anhedonic depression (AD) were the foci of the survey study (N = 107). After controlling for sociodemographic variables (English language proficiency, gender, and age), results from separate hierarchical multiple linear regression models indicated that acculturative stress was positively and significantly related to AA. Neither mindfulness nor self-compassion had any association with AA or moderation effects. While acculturative stress was not significantly associated with AD, mindfulness and self-compassion were inversely associated with AD. Furthermore, mindfulness was protective against AD when Chinese international students experienced high acculturative stress. The pilot workshop study (N = 41) sought to extend the survey study findings and explored the effectiveness of a one-hour mindfulness-based coping workshop on Chinese international students’ well-being (AA, AD, and worry). The results from a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, controlling for age and acculturative stress, indicated that there were no main effects of workshop type or time and no interaction effects. Students may require more than a one-hour workshop to reap the potential benefits of mindfulness-based coping. Implications for the effect of mindfulness-based coping on the psychological well-being of Chinese international students are discussed, along with its limitations and directions for future research.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Zhenni

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hunter, Carla
• Heller, Wendy
• Rounds, James Desi-Ann
• Menard, Christopher
• Hu, Tzu-An

• Mindfulness
• Self-Compassion
• Coping
• Well-Being
• Chinese
• International Students
• Workshop

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Zhenni Wang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102819

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/102819