Systemic Understanding of Chinese International Doctoral Students’ Stress-Coping Processes and Family Dynamics During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study aims to have a systemic understanding of Chinese international doctoral students (CIDS)’ perceived stress-coping process during COVID-19 in the US with an emphasis on the role of family dynamics in the process. The unique sociopolitical background during COVID-19 May trigger CIDS’ unique stressors and responses. Moreover, as family plays an important role in CIDS’ mental health and well-being, how CIDS interact with their family may largely influence their stress management process. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used as a methodological approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of CIDS experiences. The results highlight the various interlocking stressors and coping strategies across multiple levels perceived by CIDS. Furthermore, the results emphasize the impact of family teachings, cultural values, and how larger sociopolitical background has shaped the interactions between CIDS and their family, which in turn, shaped the CIDS stress-coping process. Clinical implications are included to inform systemic prevention and intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese international doctoral students (CIDS)
• contextual model of family stress (CMFS)
• Ecological model (EM)
• hermeneutic phenomenology
• systemic

Acknowledgments

A very special thanks to Yiyi Dai and Dan Liu who generously participated in the pilot interviews. Your contributions have helped us refine our interview protocol and research design.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).