Open AccessIs Silence Golden? Chronic Stress and Psychophysiological Indicators’ Changes over Time in International Students: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Yu. N. Muzychenko,
Irina A. Apollonova,
David W. Evans
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
vestnik rossijskogo universiteta družby narodov. seriâ psihologiâ i pedagogika
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2313-1705
pISSN - 2313-1683
DOI - 10.22363/2313-1683-2022-19-1-128-145
Subject(s) - relocation , affect (linguistics) , psychology , harm , stress (linguistics) , clinical psychology , social psychology , applied psychology , developmental psychology , linguistics , philosophy , communication , computer science , programming language
Most people assume studying or working abroad would be stressful - but would one ever think that it could be detrimental to the health? Stress literature relates cross-cultural transactions to the chances of gaining higher levels of chronic stress. This paper reports the results of two studies on international students in Moscow in 2018. Specifically, Study 1 assessed how cross-cultural transactions perceived to affect health state during the first 6 months of their relocation. Study 2 aimed to investigate if the psychological stress linked to relocation to a different country can possibly lead to psychobiological effects of chronic stress. In Study 1, qualitative methods were applied to conduct 21 interviews with international students. In Study 2, a longitudinal pilot study was conducted for 10 foreign students during the first 2-5 (M = 3.6) months of their relocation. Stress related to cross-cultural transactions was expected to affect subjective well-being and health variables. The health state was a relatively silent topic in the interview participants of Study 1. The results of Study 2 showed that the participants had changes in the resting heart rate (RHR) baseline. Perceived chronic stress related to cross-cultural transactions may affect psychophysiological state; however, the affect varies depending on a person. Further research is required for the data consistency and for identifying non-invasive objective risk markers and individual stress pathways, with the goal of identifying at-risk students and providing treatment options before any serious harm is done to their health.