Relationships Among Life Stress, Social Support, Academic Stressors, and Reactions to Stressors of International Students in the United States.

This study examined the relationships among 4 constructs--life stress (primary stressor), academic stressors (secondary stressor), perceived social support (stress mediator), and reactions to stressors (stress outcome)--among 143 international students. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the relationships among latent and measured variables in the conceptual model. Results indicated no significant difference in academic and life stressors by gender. However, women exhibited higher reactions to stressors than men. Higher levels of academic stressors were predicted by higher levels of life stress and by lower levels of social support. Higher academic stressors predicted greater reactions to stressors. All of the regression weights in the model were statistically significant, and the model's predictors accounted for 82% of the variance in reactions to stressor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)