Social Adaptation and Mental Health of Migrant Students in Siberia

Social Adaptation and Mental Health of Migrant Students in Siberia


Voevodin I.V.

Cand. Sci. (Med.), Assoc. Prof., Senior Researcher, Department of Social Work, Tomsk State University, Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia. i_voevodin@list.ru

Peshkovskaya A.G.

Researcher, Laboratory of Experimental Methods in Cognitive and Social Science, Tomsk State University, Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia. peshkovskaya@gmail.com

Galkin S.A.

graduate student, Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia. s01091994@yandex.ru

Belokrylov I.I.

Researcher, Mental Health Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia. bel0krylov_i@mail.ru

ID of the Article:


The study on social adaptation of educational migrants from China was supported by the Tomsk State University competitiveness improvement program. The study on mental health of migrant students from CIS countries was supported by budget funding, project No. AAAA-A19-119020690013-2 “A comprehensive study of clinical and psychopathological patterns and pathobiological mechanisms of formation and progression of socially significant mental and behavioral disorders with development of innovative methods of early diagnosis, personalized treatment and prevention strategies”


For citation:

Voevodin I.V., Peshkovskaya A.G., Galkin S.A., Belokrylov I.I. Social Adaptation and Mental Health of Migrant Students in Siberia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2020. No 11. P. 157-161




Abstract

Share of foreign students in Russian universities is annually increasing. As in the world as a whole, the process of social adaptation of migrant students is followed up by the leading academic and educational centers. The article presents results of two studies: social adaptation, acculturation of educational migrants of students from China and the dynamics of mental health over the past decade of students from the CIS countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan). The first case used a semi–formal interview method, while the second exploits anonymous questionnaire. We found that Chinese students choose mainly two types of strategies while maintaining ethnic identity: integration and separation. Along with the constant increase in the number of educational migrants from the Asian part of the CIS, there is a deterioration trend in certain indicators of their mental health, in particular, spreading additive behavior, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The authors conclude that acculturation of foreign students in a new environment is facilitated by effective intercultural communication, development and implementation of social adaptation and psychological prevention programs.


Keywords
educational migration; social adaptation; acculturation; students; migrants; intercultural communication; education

References

Регионы России. Социально-экономические показатели: Статистический сборник. М.: Росстат, 2019. [Regions of Russia. Socio-economic Indicators. Statistical Collection. (2019) Moscow: Rosstat. (In Russ.)]

Beine M., Noël R., Ragot L. (2014) Determinants of the International Mobility of Students. Economics of Education Review. Vol. 41. Iss. C: 40–54. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.03.003.

Berry J.W., Sabatier C. (2011) Variations in the Assessment of Acculturation Attitudes: Their Relationships with Psychological Wellbeing. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. Vol. 35. No. 5: 658–669. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.02.002.

Myagkov M., Kashpur V.V., Baryshev A.A., Goiko V.L., Shchekotin E.V. (2019) Distinguishing Features of the Activity of Extreme Right Groups under Conditions of State Counteraction to Online Extremism in Russia. Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Vol. 8. No. 1: 41–74. DOI: 10.1353/reg.2019.0002.

Peshkovskaya A., Babkina T., Myagkov M. (2019) Gender Effects and Cooperation in Collective Action: A Laboratory Experiment. Rationality and Society. Vol. 31. No. 3: 337–353. DOI: 10.1177/1043463119858788.

Peshkovskaya A., Babkina T., Myagkov M. (2018) Social Context Reveals Gender Differences in Cooperative Behavior. Journal of Bioeconomics. Vol. 20. No. 2: 213–225. DOI: 10.1007/s10818-018-9271-5.

Peshkovskaya A.G., Babkina T.S., Myagkov M.G., Kulikov I.A., Ekshova K.V., Harriff K. (2017) The Socialization Effect on Decision Making in the Prisoner's Dilemma Game: An Eye-tracking Study. PLoS ONE. Vol. 12. No. 4: e0175492. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175492.

Yoon E., Chang C.-T., Kim S., Clawson A. (2013) A Meta-analysis of Acculturation/Enculturation and Mental Health. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Vol. 60. No. 1: 15–30. DOI: 10.1037/a0030652.

Content No 11, 2020