title: Forbearance coping, identification with heritage culture, acculturative stress, and psychological distress among Chinese international students.
abstract: Based on Berry's (1997) theoretical framework for acculturation, our goal in this study was to examine whether the use of a culturally relevant coping strategy (i.e., forbearance coping, a predictor) would be associated with a lower level of psychological distress (a psychological outcome), for whom (i.e., those with weaker vs. stronger identification with heritage culture, a moderator), and under what situations (i.e., lower vs. higher acculturative stress, a moderator). A total of 188 Chinese international students completed an online survey. Results from a hierarchical regression indicated a significant 3-way interaction of forbearance coping, identification with heritage culture, and acculturative stress on psychological distress. For those with a weaker identification with their heritage culture, when acculturative stress was higher, the use of forbearance coping was positively associated with psychological distress. However, this was not the case when acculturative stress was lower. In other words, the use of forbearance coping was not significantly associated with psychological distress when acculturative stress was lower. Moreover, for those with a stronger cultural heritage identification, the use of forbearance coping was not significantly associated with psychological distress regardless of whether acculturative stress was high or low. Future research and implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Meifen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Kelly Yu-Hsin
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri.
authors.forename: Puncky Paul
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Heppner
authors.affiliation: Mogridge College of Education, University of Denver.
authors.forename: Ruth Chu-Lien
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Tsun-Yao
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Ku
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012945:Social Values; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult