%0 Journal Article
%T Relationships between stress, coping and depressive symptoms among overseas university preparatory Chinese students: a cross-sectional study
%A Pi-Chi Chou
%A Yu-Mei Y Chao
%A Hao-Jan Yang
%A Gwo-Liang Yeh
%A Tony Lee
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-11-352
%X A cross-sectional study was conducted at an overseas Chinese university preparatory institute in Taiwan. Of enrolled overseas Chinese university preparatory students at 2009, 756 completed a structured questionnaire measuring stress, strategies for coping with it, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.High levels of stress significantly predicted the adoption of active, problem-focused coping strategies (R2 = 0.13, p < .01) and passive, emotion-focused coping strategies (R2 = 0.24, p < .01). Acceptable CFI, SRMR, and RMSEA values from the structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the model satisfactorily fits the stress coping framework, after active coping strategies were eliminated from the model. Results from the Sobel test revealed that passive coping strategies mediated the relation between stress and depressive symptoms (z = 8.06, p < .001).Our study results suggested that stress is associated with coping strategies and depressive symptoms and passive strategies mediate the relation between stress and depressive symptoms in overseas Chinese university preparatory students.As globalization makes people more mobile, more and more students pursue academics outside their own country. Whether overseas students can successfully adjust to changes in their lives, meet their academic requirements, and maintain their emotional well-being is an important health issue for public health professionals and school counselors. Overseas Chinese students who come from Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, etc. leave their home town and family at a young age to pursue better educational opportunities overseas are confronted with an entirely different living environment, education system, and culture when they come to Taiwan. Hence, it is difficult for them to adjust their mindsets and cope with the stresses of everyday life, coursework, and interpersonal relationships [1,2]. In the past 20 years, studies of the factors related to life experiences and depre
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/352