-Original-

Factors Influencing the Mental Health of International Students, as Observed in a Longitudinal Study on Former Japanese Government Scholarship Students

Masago Minami¹, Ryoko Niikura², Masami Kashimura³ and Yoshiro Okubo¹

¹Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
²Chiba University, Chiba, Japan
³Department of Medical Psychology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan

Background: More than 30 years have passed since the Japanese government announced its International Student 100,000 Plan in 1983. Today, the number of international students in the country exceeds 300,000. This study examines the relationship between factors affecting the mental health of international students and their satisfaction with having studied abroad in Japan.
Methods: An online-questionnaire was given to 82 former Japanese government scholarship students who studied in Japan in the 1980s. The survey consisted of items related to the basic personal attributes of the participants, their lives in Japan during their period of study (20 items), their satisfaction level at having studied in Japan (10 items), and their current happiness level (4 items).
Results: A significant relationship was observed between the level of satisfaction at having studied in Japan and a number of the statements relating to respondents' lives in Japan as students, including: "I felt that the differences between Japan and my home country were interesting, and enjoyed these differences," and "Whenever I encountered a difficult situation, I attempted to find different approaches to deal with the problem." A similar relationship was also observed between these statements and subjective happiness.
Conclusions: International students who were able to accept the differences and difficulties they confronted positively and respond to situations flexibly tended to report higher levels of satisfaction with their studies in Japan and higher levels of happiness, suggesting that individual psychological factors, such as situation perception and associated coping behaviors, have a defining impact on mental health.

J Nippon Med Sch 2021; 88: 475-484

Keywords
Japanese government scholarship students, mental health, longitudinal study, support for international students

Correspondence to
Masago Minami, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan
mina0111@yomiuri.com

Received, December 11, 2020
Accepted, December 24, 2020