Academic stress, mindfulness-related skills and mental health in international university students

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between academic stress, mindfulness-related constructs (ie, mindfulness, self-compassion and psychological flexibility) and anxiety and depressive symptoms in a sample of 190 international university students. Participants filled in an online questionnaire. Multiple Regression Analyses showed that anxiety and depressive symptoms were significantly related to higher levels of perceived academic stress, and to lower levels of acting with (mindful) awareness, lower self-compassion and lower psychological flexibility. None of the mindfulness-related constructs was found to moderate the relationship between perceived academic stress and anxiety and depressive symptoms. The results provide possible targets for mental health interventions in international university students. Especially the training of mindfulness-related skills could be a promising path.

Keywords:

• Academic stress
• mental health
• mindfulness
• psychological flexibility
• self-compassion

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the Netherlands and received approval from the Review Board of the Institute of Psychology, Leiden University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.