Journal of Counseling Psychology
Volume 54, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 385-394

Acculturative Stress, Perfectionism, Years in the United States, and Depression Among Chinese International Students (Article)

Wei M.* , Heppner P.P. , Mallen M.J. , Ku T.-Y. , Liao K.Y.-H. , Wu T.-F.
  • a Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, United States
  • b Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, United States
  • c Department of Behavioral Science, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, United States
  • d Psychology in Education Research Lab, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Iowa State University, United States
  • e Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, United States
  • f Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, United States

Abstract

The present study examined whether maladaptive perfectionism (i.e., discrepancy between expectations and performance) and length of time in the United States moderated the association between acculturative stress and depression. Data were collected through online surveys from 189 Chinese international students from China and Taiwan attending a midwestern university. Results from a hierarchical regression showed that there were significant main effects of acculturative stress and maladaptive perfectionism on depression, no significant two-way interactions, and a significant three-way interaction, indicating that acculturative stress, maladaptive perfectionism, and length of time in the United States interacted to predict depression. Low maladaptive perfectionism buffered the effect of acculturative stress on depression only for those who had been in the United States for a relatively longer period of time. Implications for counseling and future research directions are discussed. © 2007 American Psychological Association.

Author Keywords

Three-way interaction Chinese international students Depression Acculturative stress maladaptive perfectionism

Index Keywords

male controlled study female China depression stress Chinese cultural factor Taiwan Article United States student human adult human experiment
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-35448972089&doi=10.1037%2f0022-0167.54.4.385&partnerID=40&md5=7ccaf932ffb2dcc15e731559999b2905
DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.54.4.385
ISSN: 00220167
Cited by: 127
Original Language: English