International students' help-seeking behaviors: A study of racial and gender differences

• In Event: Reevaluating higher education in the context of curriculum, activism, help-seeking, and partnerships

Proposal

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to examine mental health help-seeking behaviors among international students, particularly focusing on how these behaviors can vary according to the students' backgrounds. The number of international students in U.S. higher education has grown rapidly over the last two decades, although the global COVID-19 pandemic has recently imposed limits on international mobility. The U.S. has been the top destination for international students worldwide, hosting approximately 950,000 international students (IIE, 2023). While U.S. higher education institutions have expended substantial effort recruiting international students, scholars argue that universities and colleges should emphasize the importance of the international student experience in the host country (Arthur, 2017; Buckner & Stein, 2020). In other words, the development of effective educational practices and support for international student success is, and should be, a focus of both practitioners and scholars.

One of the major issues that students from other countries may encounter is mental health. These students can face unique challenges, such as differing communication styles, language barriers, physical distance from family members, and xenophobia (Cho & Yu, 2015; Luo et al., 2019; Pedersen et al., 2016; Yao & Mwangi, 2022). Such challenges can potentially lead to loneliness and mental health issues.

To overcome mental health challenges, help-seeking behaviors are crucial. Access to appropriate resources such as counseling services can guide college students towards improving their mental health, and subsequently their academic success (Chang et al., 2020). However, international students are often hesitant or unable to reach out to such valuable resources (Tung, 2011). For example, the professional support of counselors or therapists is not common in some countries, and the stigmatization of mental health issues is more pronounced in others (Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer, 2016).

Although scholars have explored international student help-seeking behaviors, they often overlook the diversity within the international student population. Even though international students are frequently viewed as a homogeneous group of students, they are not identical (Brunsting et al., 2021; Mamiseishvili, 2012). Existing literature focusing on domestic students has found inconsistencies in help-seeking behaviors by race/ethnicity and sex (e.g., Lipson et al., 2022). In contrast, the approach to understand diverse help-seeking behaviors according to international students' backgrounds has not been thoroughly examined. Thus, this study investigates the extent to which international student help-seeking behaviors differ based on their backgrounds.

This study is significant for comparative and international education for two reasons: 1) it challenges the stereotype of viewing international students as a homogeneous group, and 2) the findings of this study should be beneficial for higher education practitioners in developing mental health support systems that consider the diversity of international students. Therefore, this study poses the research question: To what extent do international student help-seeking behaviors differ based on their race and sex?


METHOD

This study utilizes the dataset provided by the Healthy Minds Network (HMN). This data has been collected through web-based surveys aimed at understanding mental health, service utilization, and related issues among students in U.S. higher education. This study focuses on the data from the academic year 2021-2022, which is the most recent data available. This dataset was chosen for several reasons. First, the HMN survey delves into the details of college student mental health issues and help-seeking behaviors. Second, the data has been collected from multiple institutions, making the findings broadly applicable. Third, information on international student race/ethnicity is available. In other major large-scale surveys, international student status is often treated as a single racial category (e.g., as "non-resident aliens" along with "White", "Black", and other racial categories in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). To examine diverse help-seeking behaviors depending on international student backgrounds, this dataset provides the necessary variables.

The analytical sample comprises 7,412 international students from 125 institutions. Asian international students constitute the largest group (n = 4,033), followed by White (n = 1,097), Hispanic (n = 660), Black (n = 536), Middle Eastern (n = 346), and Other race/ethnicity (n = 740). Additionally, close to two-thirds of the sample are female (n = 4,474). While race/ethnicity and sex are key variables in this study, the analysis also considers other variables such as age, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and degree levels as control variables.

To investigate the diversity in help-seeking behaviors, multi-level regression was conducted. The dependent variables encompass various help-seeking behaviors, including the use of therapy or medication, information resources, reasons for seeking support, barriers to obtaining professional support, and others. However, this proposal focuses on one set of variables: from whom the students seek mental health support. Other dependent variables are elaborated on in the full paper. The key independent variables are international student race/ethnicity and sex. As mentioned above, other student backgrounds are included as control variables. Given the data structure, where students are nested within each institution, a multi-level model is appropriate. Depending on whether an outcome variable is continuous or binary, multi-level regression or multi-level logistic regression is employed.


FINDINGS AND SIGNIFICANCE

Preliminary findings suggest a relationship between international student race/ethnicity or sex and with whom they discuss their mental health. Black, Asian, and Middle Eastern international students were significantly less likely than White international students to discuss their mental health with professional clinicians. In contrast, Black international students were more likely to rely on religious counselors compared to White students. Also, all international students of color (Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern) were more likely to not discuss their mental health with anyone, as compared to White international students. Additionally, Middle Eastern international students were hesitant to talk with faculty and student service staff. Female international students were more likely than male international students to seek professional clinicians for their mental health. The full paper will delve deeper into these findings and examine other outcome variables. However, these preliminary findings already imply that help-seeking behaviors may not be consistent among international students. Based on the findings, the full paper will make several recommendations for educational practices considering the different help-seeking patterns by race/ethnicity and sex.

Author

• Shinji Katsumoto, University of Iowa