Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan

Meixuan Song; Keiji Tabuchi; Toshio Kobayashi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

| Peer-Reviewed

Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan

Meixuan Song, Keiji Tabuchi, Toshio Kobayashi

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 6, Issue 3)

Received: 25 June 2018 Published: 26 June 2018

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

In recent years, as international students studying at universities are increasing in Japan, so maintaining mental health of them living in unfamiliar countries is an important issue. The purpose of this research was to clarify the situation of stress and the condition of mental health among international students. We conducted a self-check question survey for 67 international students who came from 10 countries living in Japan, aged between 20 and 45 (average age was 26.4 years). The contents of the survey were personal attributes, life stress, revised UCLA loneliness scale (20-80 points), and depressed state self-rating scale (CES-D) (0-60 points). For statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis with IBM SPSS 22.0 was used. The average years of residence in Japan was 2.07 years. Stressor of daily life were "Japanese language skill shortage" and "various procedures are troublesome". Stressor of economic was "weight of economic burden". Stressor of study were "graduation thesis" and "the field of study and research is difficult". Hereafter, stressor of private expense students was having to do part-time jobs to maintain their lives. When the Japanese language ability was high, the stress on daily life and study was low, but the stress of part-time jobs was higher. It was conceivable that the international students with higher Japanese ability, the demand on work will be also higher. The CES-D score was 15.57 on average and 37.3% with depressed tendency (16 points or more). The positive correlation was found between CES-D and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05), stressor on study (r=0.246, p<0.05), loneliness (r=0.383, p<0.01). In addition, the average score of international students' loneliness scale was 42.72 points. The positive correlation was also found between loneliness and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05). Based on these results is necessary to pay attention to international students' stressors on daily life, study, loneliness, and mental health state. In this research, the actual situation of international student's daily life, economic aspect, and academic stress were clarified. Providing support to maintain their mental health is important to prevent the tendency of depression for international students who living with strong stress and loneliness.

Published in	Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16
Page(s)	100-105
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

International Student, Stress, Mental Health, Loneliness

References

[1]	Iwasaki Kori (2015) Policy of attracting international students in Japan - from the viewpoint of altitude accepting talented foreigners - Pacific Rim Business information RIM 2015 Vol. 15 No. 58.
[2]	Masahiro Miguti, Midori Egawa (1994) Study on life stress status and it’s relevant factors of international students studying in Japan. Presentation summary of Japan Educational Society Conference (46), 74-75.
[3]	Cecilia, Ikeguchi (2012) Internationalization of Education & Culture Adjustment The Case of Chinese Students in Japan Intercultural Communication Studies XXI: 2．
[4]	Takashi Asakura, Li Chen (1993) Study on life stress and health of Asian international students. Bulletin of Tokyo Gakugei University the 5th department, Art Health Sports science, 45: 97-103.
[5]	Makiiko Mori, Miki Aoyanagi (2007) Health-Related Behavior of Chinese students Studying in Japan and Present Circumstances of Support System. Bulletin of Ex-Japan Red Cross College of Nursing No. 21, pp. 33 to 41
[6]	Chen Jindi, Takataya Kumiko (2008) The Characteristics of social support of mainland Chinese students in Japan and their effect on their study and daily life. Yamanashi Nursing Journal Vol. 6 No. 2.
[7]	Tomoko Tanaka, Jiro Takai, Takaya Kohyama, Chiho Muranaka, Takehiro Fujihara (1990) A Study on the adjustment of international Students in Japan (1) – A factor analysis of cross-cultural adjustment Scale - Bulletin of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University III, Vol. 14, 77-94.
[8]	Yukina Shimoda, Tomoko Tanaka (2007) Cultural distances recognized by international students in Japan: from the perspectives of individualism-collectivism and high/low context communication. Education for international students (12), 25-36, 2007-12.
[9]	Keiko Fujii, Masami Kadokura (2004) What is the difficulty for international students - from questionnaire survey in the first half year of 2003 - 8-4 - 12 Yokohama National University international student center bulletin (1994-2005) No. 11.
[10]	KaoRuren Chen (2011) The impact of interpersonal self-efficacy on interpersonal stress coping in Chinese students in Japan. Kyushu University Psychological Research 2011, Vol. 12, 113-120.
[11]	Tracy Rundstrom Williams (2005) Exploring the Impact of Study Abroad on Students’ Intercultural Communication　Journal of Studies in International Education, Vol. 9 No. 4．
[12]	Tomoko Sonoda (2011) A study on mental health and social support of Gunma University foreign students: from the results of a retest of Ohashi (2005) - Gunma University international education and research center issue No. 10 1-15
[13]	Jiro Takai (1989) Summary of the study on adaptation of international students living in Japan. Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Nagoya University (Educational Psychology), Vol. 1989 36: 139-147
[14]	Tomoko Tanaka, Jiro Takai, Hirofumi Minami, Takehiro Fujihara (1990) A Study on the adjustment of international Students in Japan (2) – Implications of Social network formation on newly arrived Students - Bulletin of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Hiroshima University III, Vol. 14, 95-113.
[15]	YuMei Tang (2004) Research on intercultural adaptation process of Chinese students in Japan - from the perspective of difficulties in interpersonal behavior, Bulletin of International Cultural Studies 2004, 10: 293-328.
[16]	Masumi Oka, Hiromi Fukada, YuHui Zhou (1996) Purpose and adaptation of Chinese private students to study abroad. Okayama University economic society magazine 27 (4), 1996, 25-49.
[17]	Tokiyo Inai, (2010) For the improvement of overseas students’ support ―On the basis of questionaire survey on the Chinese overseas students―, Research bulletin 54 55, 71～92.
[18]	JERRY S. CARLSON, KEITH F: WIDAMAN (1988) The effects of study abroad during college on attitudes toward other cultures. Inrernalmnol Journal of Inwcultural Relatrons, Vol 12, p, I-17. 1988
[19]	Midori komatu (2013) The relationship between Chinese students’ negative perceptions, dissatisfaction, and causal attribution toward their association. Human culture creation science review Vol. 15.
[20]	YuZhi Xiao (2018) Impact of the value of studying abroad on the feeling of adaptation and fulfillment of student life in Japan - For private students studying abroad in Japan - Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education, Waseda University Separate volume 25-2.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Meixuan Song, Keiji Tabuchi, Toshio Kobayashi. (2018). Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Science Journal of Public Health, 6(3), 100-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Meixuan Song; Keiji Tabuchi; Toshio Kobayashi. Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Sci. J. Public Health 2018, 6(3), 100-105. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Meixuan Song, Keiji Tabuchi, Toshio Kobayashi. Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Sci J Public Health. 2018;6(3):100-105. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16,
  author = {Meixuan Song and Keiji Tabuchi and Toshio Kobayashi},
  title = {Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {100-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20180603.16},
  abstract = {In recent years, as international students studying at universities are increasing in Japan, so maintaining mental health of them living in unfamiliar countries is an important issue. The purpose of this research was to clarify the situation of stress and the condition of mental health among international students. We conducted a self-check question survey for 67 international students who came from 10 countries living in Japan, aged between 20 and 45 (average age was 26.4 years). The contents of the survey were personal attributes, life stress, revised UCLA loneliness scale (20-80 points), and depressed state self-rating scale (CES-D) (0-60 points). For statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis with IBM SPSS 22.0 was used. The average years of residence in Japan was 2.07 years. Stressor of daily life were "Japanese language skill shortage" and "various procedures are troublesome". Stressor of economic was "weight of economic burden". Stressor of study were "graduation thesis" and "the field of study and research is difficult". Hereafter, stressor of private expense students was having to do part-time jobs to maintain their lives. When the Japanese language ability was high, the stress on daily life and study was low, but the stress of part-time jobs was higher. It was conceivable that the international students with higher Japanese ability, the demand on work will be also higher. The CES-D score was 15.57 on average and 37.3% with depressed tendency (16 points or more). The positive correlation was found between CES-D and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05), stressor on study (r=0.246, p<0.05), loneliness (r=0.383, p<0.01). In addition, the average score of international students' loneliness scale was 42.72 points. The positive correlation was also found between loneliness and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05). Based on these results is necessary to pay attention to international students' stressors on daily life, study, loneliness, and mental health state. In this research, the actual situation of international student's daily life, economic aspect, and academic stress were clarified. Providing support to maintain their mental health is important to prevent the tendency of depression for international students who living with strong stress and loneliness.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY - JOUR
T1 - Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan
AU - Meixuan Song
AU - Keiji Tabuchi
AU - Toshio Kobayashi
Y1 - 2018/06/26
PY - 2018
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16
DO - 10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16
T2 - Science Journal of Public Health
JF - Science Journal of Public Health
JO - Science Journal of Public Health
SP - 100
EP - 105
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-7950
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16
AB - In recent years, as international students studying at universities are increasing in Japan, so maintaining mental health of them living in unfamiliar countries is an important issue. The purpose of this research was to clarify the situation of stress and the condition of mental health among international students. We conducted a self-check question survey for 67 international students who came from 10 countries living in Japan, aged between 20 and 45 (average age was 26.4 years). The contents of the survey were personal attributes, life stress, revised UCLA loneliness scale (20-80 points), and depressed state self-rating scale (CES-D) (0-60 points). For statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis with IBM SPSS 22.0 was used. The average years of residence in Japan was 2.07 years. Stressor of daily life were "Japanese language skill shortage" and "various procedures are troublesome". Stressor of economic was "weight of economic burden". Stressor of study were "graduation thesis" and "the field of study and research is difficult". Hereafter, stressor of private expense students was having to do part-time jobs to maintain their lives. When the Japanese language ability was high, the stress on daily life and study was low, but the stress of part-time jobs was higher. It was conceivable that the international students with higher Japanese ability, the demand on work will be also higher. The CES-D score was 15.57 on average and 37.3% with depressed tendency (16 points or more). The positive correlation was found between CES-D and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05), stressor on study (r=0.246, p<0.05), loneliness (r=0.383, p<0.01). In addition, the average score of international students' loneliness scale was 42.72 points. The positive correlation was also found between loneliness and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05). Based on these results is necessary to pay attention to international students' stressors on daily life, study, loneliness, and mental health state. In this research, the actual situation of international student's daily life, economic aspect, and academic stress were clarified. Providing support to maintain their mental health is important to prevent the tendency of depression for international students who living with strong stress and loneliness.
VL - 6
IS - 3
ER -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Meixuan Song

Department of Health Development, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
Keiji Tabuchi

Department of Health Development, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
Toshio Kobayashi

Department of Health Development, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Meixuan Song, Keiji Tabuchi, Toshio Kobayashi. (2018). Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Science Journal of Public Health, 6(3), 100-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Meixuan Song; Keiji Tabuchi; Toshio Kobayashi. Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Sci. J. Public Health 2018, 6(3), 100-105. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Meixuan Song, Keiji Tabuchi, Toshio Kobayashi. Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan. Sci J Public Health. 2018;6(3):100-105. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16,
  author = {Meixuan Song and Keiji Tabuchi and Toshio Kobayashi},
  title = {Stress Conditions and Mental Health Status of International Students Studying in Japan},
  journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {100-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180603.16},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20180603.16},
  abstract = {In recent years, as international students studying at universities are increasing in Japan, so maintaining mental health of them living in unfamiliar countries is an important issue. The purpose of this research was to clarify the situation of stress and the condition of mental health among international students. We conducted a self-check question survey for 67 international students who came from 10 countries living in Japan, aged between 20 and 45 (average age was 26.4 years). The contents of the survey were personal attributes, life stress, revised UCLA loneliness scale (20-80 points), and depressed state self-rating scale (CES-D) (0-60 points). For statistical analysis, Pearson correlation analysis with IBM SPSS 22.0 was used. The average years of residence in Japan was 2.07 years. Stressor of daily life were "Japanese language skill shortage" and "various procedures are troublesome". Stressor of economic was "weight of economic burden". Stressor of study were "graduation thesis" and "the field of study and research is difficult". Hereafter, stressor of private expense students was having to do part-time jobs to maintain their lives. When the Japanese language ability was high, the stress on daily life and study was low, but the stress of part-time jobs was higher. It was conceivable that the international students with higher Japanese ability, the demand on work will be also higher. The CES-D score was 15.57 on average and 37.3% with depressed tendency (16 points or more). The positive correlation was found between CES-D and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05), stressor on study (r=0.246, p<0.05), loneliness (r=0.383, p<0.01). In addition, the average score of international students' loneliness scale was 42.72 points. The positive correlation was also found between loneliness and the stressor of daily life (r=0.311, p<0.05). Based on these results is necessary to pay attention to international students' stressors on daily life, study, loneliness, and mental health state. In this research, the actual situation of international student's daily life, economic aspect, and academic stress were clarified. Providing support to maintain their mental health is important to prevent the tendency of depression for international students who living with strong stress and loneliness.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download