Rationale: Published studies have shown that immigrants undergo dietary acculturation which may have positive or negative impact on their health. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate this critical issue of dietary acculturation and any possible influence on the health status of newly arrived international students at Virginia Tech in Fall 2010. Design: In this study weight, fasting blood glucose and blood pressure of 35 international students (age 18-36 years) were determined at three time points, 5-6 weeks apart. Participants filled out a 20-item-questionnaire addressing alteration in the native and American dietary habits. Furthermore, 24 hrs dietary recalls and frequency of consuming the most popular food items in the US was assessed. Results: Total sample population (TSP) had a significant increase in average weight by 2.79 lbs from visit 1 (V1) to visit 3 (V3) (p=0.0082), Participants who gained weight (PGW; n=10) had an average increase by 9 lbs. Country wise, Chinese had a statistically significant average increase in their weights by 4.16 lbs (p=0.0077) whereas, Indians and Germans had an average increase by 2.36 lbs and 1.28 lbs respectively. Gender wise, the average increase in weight for females was 3.99 lbs (p=0.0015) while for males 1.52 lbs from V1 to V3. There were no significant differences in total caloric consumption from V1 to V3 for both groups of international students. There were no significant changes in the fasting blood glucose and systolic blood pressure from V1 to V3. There was an increase in frequency of consuming high calorie American food items in V3 when compared with V1. Frequency of burger consumption was highly increased in the TSP group while bagels were significantly increased in PGW group. There was an overall increasing trend towards American diet, cooking and eating habits. Finally, we conclude that the international students are gradually acculturating to the American diet and have impact on their weight which may potentially have a negative impact on their health status. Future studies and orientation program catered to the needs of adjusting to acculturation process of international students are recommended. / Master of Science

U.S. colleges and universities have hosted international students from all over the world. Along with the increase of international student enrollment, campus counselors are challenged with identifying the students who need professional help but are reluctant to utilize their campus counseling services (Zhang and Dixon, 2003; Mitchell et al., 2007). Employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current study investigated Virginia Tech international students' help-seeking process in terms of their attitudes toward counseling services, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A total of 132 international students completed a cross-sectional online survey. Contrary to TPB, the results indicated that attitudes toward help-seeking and subjective norms were not correlated with help-seeking intentions. Perceived behavioral control, however, was identified as a predictor of international students' willingness to seek professional help. Intentions and perceived behavioral control were not predictors of international students' utilization of the Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center. The correlation between acculturation and self-stigma with international students'] help-seeking intentions and behaviors was insignificant. Gender was a marginally significant predictor of help-seeking behavior. Previous experience of counseling services was strongly correlated with international students' help-seeking intentions and behavior. The majority of Virginia Tech international students reported emotional issues as their biggest challenge while studying in the U.S. Overall, as the first study which investigated international students' help-seeking process within the Theory of Planned Behavior framework, the present research expanded the literature about foreign students' adjustment issues and utilization of their campus counseling services. Limitations, future directions, and general implications were addressed. / Master of Arts

This phenomenological qualitative study aimed to forefront international students’ experiences of receiving counselling services in a university setting. Three international students, recruited from two universities in eastern Canada using criterion sampling, were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. In this phenomenological qualitative study, within- and between-person analyses were conducted for three transcribed interviews, from which eight main themes emerged: (a) openness towards seeking counselling, (b) hesitancy towards seeking counselling, (c) helpful aspects of counselling, (d) hindering aspects of counselling, (e) positive aspects of therapeutic relationship, (f) hindrances to therapeutic relationship, (g) counsellor’s cultural awareness, and (h) counsellor’s limited cultural awareness. The themes can be understood, and are explicated along four dimensions: seeking counselling, perceptions of counselling effectiveness, therapeutic relationship, and culture in counselling. The results from this study provide insight into international students’ counselling needs, expectations, and experiences. Special attention is given to the perceived expression of in-session counsellor cultural awareness and discussed using the integrated etic-emic framework. Implications for counsellors and university counselling services, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are provided.

The aim of this study was to produce a grounded theory to describe the experiences of international students living in the UK and studying in a British university, and to understand and explain their behavioural responses to those experiences. Eighteen postgraduate international students were interviewed at a university in the south-west of England and the data was analysed using classic grounded theory methodology. The theory proposes that international students’ two biggest concerns are in regard to their English language skills and their detachment from home students. Students felt that their language skills were inadequate and they perceived themselves to be disadvantaged because of having to operate in a second language. They felt ignored when they attempted to reach out to home students and as a result they turned to co-nationals and recreated their home environment. International students were surprised at the size of the challenge they faced when they took up their studies and had to work hard to bridge the gap that existed between their academic and sociocultural skills and those needed in the UK. International students provided emotional, practical and academic support to each other but the academic support they offered to each other was not always good quality. International students engaged in a process of identity change during their stay in the UK which reflected the multiple and changing nature of their identities and during which they gained the skills they needed to be academically successful.

This phenomenological qualitative study aimed to forefront international students’ experiences of receiving counselling services in a university setting. Three international students, recruited from two universities in eastern Canada using criterion sampling, were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. In this phenomenological qualitative study, within- and between-person analyses were conducted for three transcribed interviews, from which eight main themes emerged: (a) openness towards seeking counselling, (b) hesitancy towards seeking counselling, (c) helpful aspects of counselling, (d) hindering aspects of counselling, (e) positive aspects of therapeutic relationship, (f) hindrances to therapeutic relationship, (g) counsellor’s cultural awareness, and (h) counsellor’s limited cultural awareness. The themes can be understood, and are explicated along four dimensions: seeking counselling, perceptions of counselling effectiveness, therapeutic relationship, and culture in counselling. The results from this study provide insight into international students’ counselling needs, expectations, and experiences. Special attention is given to the perceived expression of in-session counsellor cultural awareness and discussed using the integrated etic-emic framework. Implications for counsellors and university counselling services, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are provided.

Through the lens of dramaturgy theory, this study conceptualizes Israel as the stage, North American and Chinese students as two groups of actors, and social integration as their play, seeking to answer this question: how do the different roles North American students and Chinese students play in Israel lead them to different experiences of social integration? This study attempts to understand what roles American and Chinese students initially wanted to play and what shaped them, where, how and with whom they conducted their performances, and if the roles they played were adjusted during the process. Eight sets of semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with four American students and four Chinese students. The research findings and analysis reveal that although American and Chinese students do have different experiences of integration, they nonetheless share similar strategies that a dramaturgical framework can successfully elicit. Moreover, the analysis presented in this thesis, also, suggests that the experience of international students is likely much more layered than what is reflected in much of the literature that addresses the integration of international students.

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Mental health may be defined as a state of wellbeing which affects all aspects of an individual's emotions, social behavior, and psychological behavior. As a dimension of health, it is a vital aspect of an individual’s existence, and it affects their quality of life and daily activities. However, like physical health, there may be a need to maintain or improve one's mental health when challenges are present. Therefore, in this study, using a qualitative narrative case study approach, I explored the mental health attitudes and beliefs of African International Students. I examined strategies they used to address mental health challenges faced as they studied in the United States. I also utilized the Health Belief Model (HBM) as the conceptual framework to address discrimination and other social environment obstacles that African International Students faced when seeking help. As part of the study, I collected data from a sample of African International Students studying at a mid-sized Midwestern university and analyzed the information to determine factors that influenced a student’s attitudes toward mental health. As the researcher, my desire was to utilize the results of the study to assist with future interventions in this particular group of students.

<p>International students are integral in U.S. higher education institutions, and research demonstrates that these students face a range of concerns, with race and racism being understudied. In this dissertation, I present two chapters highlighting the racialized experiences of international students of color. In the first theoretical chapter, I connected international student literature to tenets of Critical Race Theory. I ended with specific recommendations for the field of counseling psychology. In the second empirical chapter, I conducted a narrative inquiry and interviewed 6 Asian Indian international students about how they formed understandings of race and racism in the United States. Through using reflexive thematic analysis, four themes of antiessentialism and intersectionality, social construction of race, sources of racial construction, and impacts of racial construction were developed. Using these results, I provided insights into how international students from India may understand race and implications for clinical practice, higher education, and research. </p>

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