Volume 25, Issue 114, August 2021

Prediction of psychosocial adjustment based on Covid-19 stress, Covid-19 anxiety, acculturation, and perceived discrimination in Iranian students living abroad

Dorsa Baharloo¹, Maryam Bakhtiari^2♦, Maryam Aslzaker¹, Abbas Masjedi Arani¹

¹Ph.D. student of Clinical Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
²Department of Clinical Psychology, Associate Professor, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
³Department of Clinical Psychology, Assistant Professor, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
⁴Department of Clinical Psychology, Assistant Professor, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Clinical Psychology, Associate Professor, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The prevalence of pandemic has led to an increment of psychological problems, moreover decrement in psychosocial adjustment. These conditions may be more severe for immigrants. The present study aimed to predict psychosocial adjustment according to Covid-19 stress, Covid-19 anxiety, acculturation and perceived discrimination in Iranian students living abroad. Method: In this cross-sectional study, which was conducted in Jan 2021 during quarantine, 480 Iranian students living abroad were selected by purposive sampling. The participants completed a variety of questionnaires, such as the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS), Iranian acculturation, Adjustment Strain in International Student (ISAS), Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students, and COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ). The achieved data was analysed with the coefficient of correlation and simultaneous regression (entry method). Results: Psychosocial adjustment had a significant negative correlation with Covid-19 stress, Covid-19 anxiety, and perceived discrimination, while it has a significant positive correlation with acculturation. In addition, the predictor variables in the current study predict 48% of the variance of psychosocial adjustment. Conclusion: Organizations and centres of the populations in question should survey training and psychological interventions for psychological symptoms caused by Covid-19.

Keywords: Acculturation, psychosocial adjustment, COVID-19, anxiety, stress, perceived discrimination, students, abroad.

Medical Science, 2021, 25(114), 1868-1877

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