Relationship Between Acculturative Stress And Depression Among Xinjiang Kazakh Students Studying In Preparatory School In Central And Eastern China

Objectives:Xinjiang is an autonomous region of China,who has a distinct multi-cultural environment.When students of ethnical minorities from Xinjiang choose to study in central and eastern China,they must face a dramatic culture change,from which a series of stressors might arise.The stressors can have an adverse impact on mental health.So the present study studied the influence of acculturative stress on depression among Xinjiang Kazakh students who were studying in preparatory school in central and eastern China.Method:Through stratified cluster sampling,5 universities who offer preparatory courses were sampled and all Kazakh students taking preparatory courses were enrolled.Among 386 students enrolled,296 were taken into analysis.The survey questionnaire included social demographic factors,related experiences prior and after university entrance,acculturative stress scale(ASSIS-28)and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-20(CESD-20).Statistical methods included t test and one-way ANOVA for univariate analysis,multiple linear regression for multivariate analysis,path analysis for mediation models,Cronbach's a and CFA for scale evaluation.Results:Among the 296 participants,109(36.58%)were male and 189(63.42%)were female,with a mean age of 18.9(SD=0.8,range:16?22).186(62.42%)were from rural area and 112(37.58%)were from urban area.Cronbach's a was 0.95 for ASSIS-28 and 0.69?0.88 for its subscales respectively.Data-model fit for CFA was good(?2=621.86,df=326,p<0.001;CFI=0.94;SRMR =0.05;RMSEA =0.06).All factor loadings were statistically significant.The factor loading of"homesick" on acculturative stress was the lowest among ASSIS-28 subscales.Mean score of CESD-20 was 16.1±10.2 and students with score over 16 accounted for 42.95%.CESD-20 score distributed differently between gender,major,type of hometown,family neighbor,father's and mother's education level.Multiple linear regression model showed that majoring in art and literature,female,lower level of language proficiency,high level of study difficulty,high level of acculturative stress were risk factors for depression.Additionally,acculturative stress mediated the relationship between major,language proficiency,study difficulty and depression.The mediation effects were different between males and females:acculturative stress mediated the relationship between study difficulty and depression among males and acculturative stress mediated the relationship between language proficiency,study difficulty and depression among females.Conclusions:Xinjiang Kazakh students studying in preparatory school in central and eastern China had a high level of depression,indicating a worse mental health status.The influential factors of depression included major,gender,language proficiency,study difficulty and acculturative stress.Acculturative stress mediated the relationship between major,language proficiency,study difficulty and depression.Findings of the present study suggested that depression can be reduced by preventing acculturative stress.