Using Social Media to Improve International Students’ Mental Wellbeing at Universities
Question:
Is WeChat an effective medium for Chinese international students to seek psychological help in U.S. universities?
Keywords:
Chinese international students, mental health, public policy, universities, psychological counseling, WeChat
Background:
WeChat is one of the most popular social media platforms used among Chinese students, including those who have studied in the United States. Almost every single Chinese international student has a WeChat account, regardless of how active they are. To them, it is an important platform to stay in touch with their family, friends and professional connections. According to Tencent, the developer of WeChat, monthly active users of WeChat have reached 1.151 billion by September 2019. The functions of WeChat include chatting with friends, creating groups, sharing stories (WeChat Discovery) among selected people, sharing moments in forms of a 15-second video, and subscribing to WeChat official accounts (WOAs) created by organizations, groups or individuals. However, there are few researches have focused on the WeChat’s function as a platform for enhancing and improving psychological well-being among Chinese international students.
Mental health problems are still concerning Chinese international students in the U.S. According to a survey conducted in Yale University, close to half of them have reported symptoms of depression and nearly 30% have reported symptoms of anxiety, but 27% of them are not aware of the availability of mental health and counseling services on campus (Han, 2013). The problems facing Chinese international students are not only mental health issues, but also how and who they should ask for help.
Opportunity:
Chinese international students are experiencing more stress than native students in general, both personal, including culture shock, social isolation, financial limitations, concern over visa status and immigration, and sociocultural, including interactions with American students, language and cultural deficiency, clashes in values, racial discrimination, and so on (Yan, 2013; Tsai, 2018). However, there are few attempts by universities that are targeting Chinese international students in order to improve their psychological well-being. Thus, investigations on how Chinese international students are coping with their mental health issues and how universities can help them are on high demand for the long-term development of both these students and the universities that accept Chinese students.
Project Value Proposition:
This paper aims to develop a feasible, efficient and scalable way for universities to better help Chinese international students’ mental well-being by utilizing the WeChat platform. It can effectively help Chinese international students thrive in U.S. universities, which is beneficial to these key stakeholders—Chinese international students, parents of these students, U.S. universities, and the governments of both countries. Chinese students are already experiencing many difficulties when they have to study and live in a foreign country. Cyber communication on a platform that they are familiar with and use almost every day induces less anxiety compared to face-to-face communications (Li, 2018). It would have a large impact on the vast majority of Chinese students, who have made up about 5.5% of the students’ bodies and over 30% of the international students’ bodies. This paper provides a practical way to use WeChat as a platform connecting Chinese international students and reliable psychological resources so these students can get timely aid when facing problems. My expertise in psychology, social media, public policy and my identity as a Chinese international student would differentiate this project from the rest because universities can gain insights directly from the Chinese students’ groups studying in their facilities.
Method:
This project will be implemented through distributing surveys on WeChat platforms, targeting Chinese students studying in U.S. academic institutions. Survey questions include WeChat usage, Chinese international students’ feelings towards U.S. universities, and utilization of on-campus psychological resources. Collected data is used for quantitative and qualitative analysis.
