The psychological adaptation of overseas and migrant students in Australia

This study aimed to examine the psychological adaptation of overseas and migrant students, and Anglo-Australian students, in the light of various individual variables including social self-efficacy, locus of control, loneliness, age, sex, and acculturating group membership. Participants were 382 students attending various universities in Melbourne, Australia. There were 189 Anglo-Australian students, 72 Southern-European second-generation migrant students, 33 Asian migrant students, 33 Chinese migrant students, and 55 Chinese overseas students. The results suggested that there were ethnic differences in loneliness, social self-efficacy, locus of control, and academic satisfaction. For nonmigrant students, a sense of control was important to their psychological and academic adaptation whereas for migrant/overseas students, supportive social relationships were important for their psychological and academic adaptation. The implications of these results for service provisions to students were also discussed.