The Role of Attachment, Travel Experiences and English Proficiency in International Students’ Acculturative Stress and Depressive Symptoms

Each year the US attracts a large number of international students. In the 2013/14 academic year 886,052 international students were enrolled at US colleges and universities, which was an 8% increase from the previous academic year and a record high (Institute of International Education, 2014). While transitioning and adjusting to college is a time of multiple stressors and emotional turmoil for many college students (Rodgers & Tennison, 2009), it was reported that international students experience more adjustment difficulties than their American peers (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994; Mori, 2000). International students often face the additional demands of a new culture and language, separation from their home country, a decrease in regular contact with their family, and fewer opportunities to speak their native language (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007), all which can make the adjustment to college life more stressful.Despite the unique challenges international students encounter while studying in the US, they continue to be one of the most underserved groups in US academic institutions (Mori, 2000), partially because they tend to underutilize counseling services (Mori, 2000; Nilsson, Berkel, Flores, & Lucas 2004). In order to better serve this growing student population, it is important to gain a better understanding of the risk factors associated with adjustment difficulties.The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding how attachment, previous travel experiences and English language proficiency relate to international students' acculturative stress and depressive symptoms. The results of this study provide directions for future research, outreach programs, and counseling to facilitate international students' adjustment and improve their study abroad experience.LITERATURE REVIEWPrevious research findings indicate that secure attachment is related to greater academic, social, and emotional college student adjustment (Mattanah, Hancock, & Brand, 2004). While individuals were initially categorized as having a particular attachment style it has been argued that the categorical conceptualization of attachment is too simplistic and does not allow for the exploration of more nuanced differences between individuals within each of the attachment styles. In order to capture the nuances of people's attachment experiences, a number of researchers conceptualized attachment style categories dimensionally, with each representing a different point along a continuum (Fraley & Waller, 1998; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998). Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998) carried out a factor analysis of most of the known self-report measure of adult romantic attachment and from it derived a self-report measure that consists of two subscales, attachment-related anxiety, and attachment-related avoidance. The orthogonal anxiety and avoidance dimensions intersect and form quadrants, each of which represents a predominant attachment style (see Fig 1). Individuals who score high on attachment anxiety (above the score where the anxiety and avoidance subscales intersect) have a tendency to worry about others' availability while those who score low on attachment anxiety (below the score where the anxiety and avoidance subscales intersect) feel more secure about others' responsiveness and availability. Individuals who score high on attachment avoidance prefer to be independent and not to rely on others, while those who score low on attachment avoidance are more comfortable being interdependent. Individuals with secure attachment score low on both anxiety and avoidance. Individuals with preoccupied attachment score high on anxiety and low on avoidance. Individuals with fearful avoidant attachment score high on anxiety and high on avoidance. Individuals with dismissive avoidant attachment score low on anxiety and high on avoidance. It was suggested that individuals vary in their attachment style across time (Waters, Merrick, Treboux, Crowell, & Albersheim, 2000), as well as within and across relationships (Fuller & Fincham, 1995). …