Coping strategies adopted by international students in an Australian tertiary context

Due to geographic and cultural transition, most international students experience difficulty in adapting to an unfamiliar environment. These adjustment difficulties are commonly regarded as the primary cause of acculturative stress. In order to relieve their acculturative stress, various effective coping strategies are used to improve their adaptation. Effectively using coping strategies enhances their psychological well-being, whereas ineffective coping exacerbates the effects of stress on adjustment. This study, based on both quantitative and qualitative data, investigates coping strategies used by international students in an Australian tertiary context. The findings indicate that “acceptance”, “positive reappraisal”, “active coping”, and “suppression” are the top four coping strategies most widely used by international students, while “denial” is the least used. In addition, participants’ demographics such as gender, degree pursued, length of stay in Australia, and English proficiency are significantly associated with their use of coping strategies.