Factors Affecting the Adjustment and Well-being of International Students at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the adjustment of international students by two objectives; 1) identifying the relationship between demographic factors and academic adaptation and examining the levels of differences in accordance with demographic factors in four dimensions of academic adaptation, and 2) examining the relationship among personal resources, such as emotional resources, intercultural communication skill and self-esteem, academic adaptation, and well- being. The research was conducted at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Thailand and the research methodology was the mixed methods; a set of questionnaire consisted of demographic questionnaire, 1) WHO Well-being Index (1998), 2) the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ), 3)the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), 4) Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA), and 5) Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used for collecting quantitative data and semi-structured interviews for collecting qualitative data. Participants were 151 of international students for the quantitative data and 13 key informants for the qualitative data. Firstly, the results indicated that while 'Length of Stay' significantly differed in academic adaptation, no significant differences were found for the other five variables: gender, age, group of nationalities, religion and English proficiency. Secondly, path analysis showed that 'Self-Esteem' was the only personal level factor that affected academic adaptation, which in turn led to an increase in well-being. Thirdly, because the three personal resources were highly correlated without multicollinearity issues, the theoretical model was adjusted by treating each of the resources as a manifest indicator of the latent factor, 'Personal Resources'. The results showed that personal resources significantly and positively affected academic adaptation, which in turn significantly influenced levels of well-being. In addition, the qualitative data were used to explain the quantitative findings, specifically, a thematic analysis identified overarching themes to suggest the factors contributing to adjustment and well-being of international students: *Successful Academic Achievement', 'Importance of Languages', and 'Empowering Personal Resources'. Finally, the research suggested practical implications for enhancing international students' adjustment and well-being by fulfilling their needs. Taken together, the findings suggest an urgent need for the University to provide academic writing in English and Thai language courses for international students.