| Individuals from mainland China and Hong Kong comprise 24% of all international students enrolled in Canadian universities. Research has shown that Chinese international students will experience an array of culturally-based stressors while adjusting to life in Canada. Such stressors include discrepant cultural norms, linguistic barriers, and academic difficulties. The purpose of this exploratory, mixed methods study was to determine how Chinese international university students make meaning out of the acculturative stress they experience while studying in Canada.;Three measures, the Coping Schemas Inventory-Revised (Wong, Reker & Peacock, 2006), Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale (Pan, Wong, Chan & Chan, 2008a), and Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994), were administered to 140 Chinese international students studying at two Canadian institutions. As well, participants provided a qualitative descriptive critical incident describing how they coped with a culturally-based stressful situation. The following questions were addressed: What are the relationships between perceived level of acculturative stress, type of coping, and use of sense-making? How does length of residency in Canada affect perceived level of acculturative stress? Do Chinese students use meaning-making as a strategy to cope with acculturative stress and if so, how is this strategy helpful for them?;It was found that perceived acculturative stress was correlated with passive-emotional coping strategies. The use of sense-making was correlated with meaning, self-restructuring, and situational coping strategies. Neither acculturative stress nor use of sense-making was correlated with age, length of residency in Canada, or with each other. Meaning-making was reported by the majority of participants as a means of coping with acculturative stressors, most of which were academic in nature. Other stressors were interpersonal (i.e., isolation, relationships) or pertained to career, bureaucratic/lifestyle, or language issues. Meaning-making was assessed on two dimensions with corresponding themes: sense-making (i.e., contemplation, self-talk, and acceptance) and benefit-finding (i.e., opportunity, optimism, and enjoyment). A seventh theme, preparation, was thought to belong to both dimensions.;This study provided new understanding about acculturative stress as experienced by Chinese international students. The author provided recommendations for university counsellors who work with these students as well as suggestions for broader institutional programs. |
