Religion/spirituality as a stress coping mechanism for international students

Date
2009
Authors
Chai, Pei Minn
Supervisor
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Health Science
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine if religion/spirituality acts as a stress coping mechanism for a sample of international tertiary students who are often subjected to significant stressors related to acculturation and being away from their families. A sample of 515 domestic students and 151 international students at a New Zealand university were given a set of questionnaires to complete: the quality of life inventory including the additional special module about spirituality/religion/personal belief, both developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with many member states; and the perceived level of stress scale and the ways of coping skills inventory. Results showed that there was no significant difference on religious/spiritual beliefs/personal belief total scores between international and domestic students. Nevertheless, when the data were analyzed by ethnicity, Asian students were significantly more religious/spiritual and used religion as one of the coping styles compared to European students. Therefore, the results confirmed that religion/spirituality functions as a coping mechanism for Asian students. Furthermore, the results support the main effect hypothesis, where religion/spirituality is beneficial for tertiary students, regardless of their level of stress.

Description
Keywords
Quality of life , Religion , International students , Cultural differences , Spirituality
Source
DOI
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Rights statement