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Acculturative Stress Essay

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During the last ten years, the number of Chinese students who study abroad has increased. They want more opportunities to improve their academic ability and self-care ability, so that they widen their knowledge and enrich their experiences. Proudly, there are indeed many exciting and enjoyable aspects for them to being international students. But the same challenges and changes that make student days potentially so life enhancing can also present opportunities for depression to intrude. Depression is the most common issue for which university counselors are consulted by students.
According to "Acculturative Stress, Perfectionism, Years in the United States, and Depression among Chinese International Students.” a journal of Counseling Psychology and edited by Wei, et al: Depression is often listed as one of the top presenting concerns among international students who seek help from university counseling centers. For this population, one of the vulnerability factors related to depression is acculturative stress. In general, acculturative stress is defined as a stress reaction in response to life events that are rooted in the experiences of acculturation, or psychosocial stressors resulting from unfamiliarity with new customs and social norms. For Chinese international students, the sources of acculturative stress often include academic pressures, economic stress, language difficulties, feelings of inferiority, and difficulties in adjusting to new food or cultural values, lack

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