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A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused distress in students globally. The mental health of international students studying abroad has been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially Chinese students who have been unfairly targeted. Objective: To explore and document the positive and ne...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8710467/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34966299 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.738474 |
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author | Lai, Agnes Yuen-kwan Sit, Shirley Man-man Lam, Stanley Kam-ki Choi, Asa Ching-man Yiu, Denise Yee-shan Lai, Theresa Tze-kwan Ip, Mary Sau-man Lam, Tai-hing |
author_facet | Lai, Agnes Yuen-kwan Sit, Shirley Man-man Lam, Stanley Kam-ki Choi, Asa Ching-man Yiu, Denise Yee-shan Lai, Theresa Tze-kwan Ip, Mary Sau-man Lam, Tai-hing |
author_sort | Lai, Agnes Yuen-kwan |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused distress in students globally. The mental health of international students studying abroad has been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially Chinese students who have been unfairly targeted. Objective: To explore and document the positive and negative experiences of a group of Hong Kong Chinese international students studying in the U.K. and U.S. from an insider perspective in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The qualitative study used four 1.5-h online focus group interviews of 20 Chinese international students from Hong Kong aged 18 or older studying in universities in the United Kingdom or the United States, from 3 May to 12 May 2020. A framework approach with a semi-structured interview guide was used to reflect students' stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping, and outcomes (negative impacts and positive gains), in the early stages of COVID-19. Different strategies were used to ensure the credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability of the study. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis. Results: Twenty full-time international University students (60% female, 90% aged 18–25 years and 65% undergraduates) were recruited. Students reported (i) stress from personal (e.g., worries about health and academic attainment), interpersonal (e.g., perceived prejudice and lack of social support), and environmental factors (e.g., uncertainties about academic programme and unclear COVID-19-related information); (ii) significant differences in culture and cognitive appraisal in the levels of perceived susceptibility and severity; (iii) positive thinking and using alternative measures in meeting challenges, which included effective emotion and problem coping strategies, and the importance of support from family, friends and schools; and (iv) negative psychological impact (e.g., worries and stress) and positive personal growth in crisis management and gains in family relationships. Conclusions: With the rise in sinophobia and uncertain developments of the pandemic, proactive support from government and academic institutions are urgently needed to reduce stress and promote the well-being of international students, especially Chinese students in the U.K. and U.S. Clear information, public education and policies related to the pandemic, appropriate academic arrangements from universities and strong support systems play important roles in maintaining students' psychological health. Clinical Trial Registration: The study was registered with the National Institutes of Health (https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier: NCT04365361). |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8710467 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-87104672021-12-28 A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lai, Agnes Yuen-kwan Sit, Shirley Man-man Lam, Stanley Kam-ki Choi, Asa Ching-man Yiu, Denise Yee-shan Lai, Theresa Tze-kwan Ip, Mary Sau-man Lam, Tai-hing Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused distress in students globally. The mental health of international students studying abroad has been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially Chinese students who have been unfairly targeted. Objective: To explore and document the positive and negative experiences of a group of Hong Kong Chinese international students studying in the U.K. and U.S. from an insider perspective in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The qualitative study used four 1.5-h online focus group interviews of 20 Chinese international students from Hong Kong aged 18 or older studying in universities in the United Kingdom or the United States, from 3 May to 12 May 2020. A framework approach with a semi-structured interview guide was used to reflect students' stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping, and outcomes (negative impacts and positive gains), in the early stages of COVID-19. Different strategies were used to ensure the credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability of the study. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis. Results: Twenty full-time international University students (60% female, 90% aged 18–25 years and 65% undergraduates) were recruited. Students reported (i) stress from personal (e.g., worries about health and academic attainment), interpersonal (e.g., perceived prejudice and lack of social support), and environmental factors (e.g., uncertainties about academic programme and unclear COVID-19-related information); (ii) significant differences in culture and cognitive appraisal in the levels of perceived susceptibility and severity; (iii) positive thinking and using alternative measures in meeting challenges, which included effective emotion and problem coping strategies, and the importance of support from family, friends and schools; and (iv) negative psychological impact (e.g., worries and stress) and positive personal growth in crisis management and gains in family relationships. Conclusions: With the rise in sinophobia and uncertain developments of the pandemic, proactive support from government and academic institutions are urgently needed to reduce stress and promote the well-being of international students, especially Chinese students in the U.K. and U.S. Clear information, public education and policies related to the pandemic, appropriate academic arrangements from universities and strong support systems play important roles in maintaining students' psychological health. Clinical Trial Registration: The study was registered with the National Institutes of Health (https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier: NCT04365361). Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-12-13 /pmc/articles/PMC8710467/ /pubmed/34966299 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.738474 Text en Copyright © 2021 Lai, Sit, Lam, Choi, Yiu, Lai, Ip and Lam. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychiatry Lai, Agnes Yuen-kwan Sit, Shirley Man-man Lam, Stanley Kam-ki Choi, Asa Ching-man Yiu, Denise Yee-shan Lai, Theresa Tze-kwan Ip, Mary Sau-man Lam, Tai-hing A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title | A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full | A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_fullStr | A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_full_unstemmed | A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_short | A Phenomenological Study on the Positive and Negative Experiences of Chinese International University Students From Hong Kong Studying in the U.K. and U.S. in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
title_sort | phenomenological study on the positive and negative experiences of chinese international university students from hong kong studying in the u.k. and u.s. in the early stage of the covid-19 pandemic |
topic | Psychiatry |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8710467/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34966299 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.738474 |
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