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Away from home: A mixed-methods study of well-being of international students in the UK

Alharbi, Eman 2020. Away from home: A mixed-methods study of well-being of international students in the UK. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
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Abstract

Background and Aims: Recently, the number of young adults leaving their homes for their studies has increased, with a high percentage choosing the UK as their destination. To date, the well-being of international and home students who study away from home has not been investigated and evaluated extensively in the context of British universities. As such, this thesis aimed to examine the experiences and well-being of international students in the UK and the effectiveness of applying well-being away strategies on the students’ quality of university life and well-being. Methods: The research was built on the DRIVE model of stress and well-being (Mark & Smith, 2008) and used a mixed-methods approach to address the aims above. It comprised four studies, each designed to address a part of the main research question. Study I compared international and home students on a range of variables proposed by the DRIVE model (i.e. positive personality, course demands, control and support, perceived academic stress), quality of university life, the use of studying away strategies and well-being outcomes. Study II applied a longitudinal design to identify the change in the well-being of international students during the academic year and the effectiveness of studying away strategies. Study III was a pilot randomised controlled trial used to test the effectiveness of the intervention, which was a self-help information sheet to encourage participants to increase their usage of studying away strategies. Study IV consisted of semi-structured interviews designed to explore the experiences of 15 international student participants. Results: The studies revealed several points regarding international students’ well-being. First, the well-being process of international and home students were similar in that positive personality, course demands, control and support, perceived academic stress and quality of university life were factors that significantly influenced their well-being. In addition, compared to domestic students, international students reported higher quality of university life and lower negative well-being, which could be explained by the qualitative data suggesting that international students found the quality of university life to be higher than that in their home countries. International students also reported having fewer financial difficulties and found a better life in the UK. Second, the well-being of international students changed significantly during the academic year, with the highest levels of positive affect recorded before students began their courses and the highest levels of negative affect recorded during the examination period. Third, the use of studying away strategies was associated with positive well-being and higher quality of university life across the quantitative studies. Fourth, limited support was found to support the intervention as a way to encourage the participants to use the studying away strategies. Finally, overall, the findings provided support for the main components of the DRIVE model in explaining the well-being of international students. Conclusions: This thesis investigated the well-being of international students in depth and provided a comprehensive picture of international students’ experiences in the UK. The findings also supported the idea that applying studying away strategies assisted individuals to experience positive well-being and high quality of university life. Of course, future research is needed to examine these strategies in detail, but this research has provided some important insights into the issue of international students’ well-being in the UK as well as recommendations for enhancing it.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Date Type: Completion
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Psychology
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 20 April 2021
Date of Acceptance: 19 April 2021
Last Modified: 10 Nov 2021 02:24
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/140561

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