Psychological well-being among international students in a Swedish university, a qualitative study

Abstract: Background: This study explores the psychological well-being of Asian international students in Sweden by identifying their sources of stress, coping strategies and resilient factors and their sources of support. The aim of this study is to have a deeper understanding of challenges for Asian international students during their study-time in Sweden to find more efficient ways to support them in the future. Method: with a qualitative approach, the data are collected through semi-structured interviews in April 2023. Participants were chosen by purposive sampling method from Asian international students in a Swedish university who study a same program. A descriptive thematic-analysis method was performed on the data to allocate the data into themes which are driven from previous relevant social theories. Findings: Five participants with an age range of 28 to 45 were enrolled in the study. all participants indicated accommodation, different academic system and being assigned an organizational number instead of personal number as well as the language barrier as sources of stress. The main emotional support source was family and appraisal support by self-motivation. Problem focused and emotional focused coping strategies were indicated by participants. They were located in the integration category, of acculturation process, in most of the aspects which helps best in maintaining psychological well-being of international students. Based on the findings, a lack of formal informational and instrumental support from the university to tackle the challenges is necessary to be planned and addressed in the future. However, there are limitations to this study therefore findings of this study should be interpreted carefully by the researchers. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicates that Asian international students in Sweden are exposed to various sources of stress. The support services can play a crucial role by providing more detailed information to ease the challenges for them. Furthermore, the study can contribute to making Sweden more attractive for highly educated international students as a future highly skilled workforce. Further research is needed to investigate other factors that influence the psychological well-being of international students in Sweden.