Loneliness among international students in the UK

WAWERA, Anna-Sophia and MCCAMLEY, Alison (2019). Loneliness among international students in the UK. Journal of Further and Higher Education.

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Abstract

This small-scale convergent parallel mixed-methods study aims to explore loneliness in an international student population in a single university. An online de Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (DJGLS) with additional demographics provided the quantitative data on loneliness in international student population. The qualitative semi-structured interviews explored what the participants themselves said about their experience of loneliness. The online DJGLS suggests moderate levels of loneliness, with three out of four international students being affected. The quantitative data shows a negative relationship between loneliness and the number of university services used by international students (rho (56) = −.52, p < .01). The interviews gave insight into who international students missed most, how they adjusted to the new environment and how they coped with loneliness. In addition, the qualitative data illustrates international student support service use as an important means of expanding social networks. This study is one of a small number of studies looking at loneliness in international students in the UK and one of few using a loneliness scale alongside qualitative data. The empirical data provides support for understanding the scale of loneliness in international students in the UK and as such for tackling loneliness to be part of healthy university and university wellbeing agendas.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1301 Education Systems
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2019.1673326
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2019 11:15
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2021 01:18
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/25403

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