Abstract

Background: Mental health concerns are becoming an increasingly significant issue worldwide.Anxiety is one of the most common disorders, especially among university students.International students are at greater risk due to challenges such as adjusting to new educational systems, dealing with financial pressures, and navigating cultural differences. These factors can greatly impact their well-being and academic performance.Objective: This study explores the trends and lived experiences of anxiety among international students at a public university in East Texas. By combining Photovoice methodology with quantitative methods, this research seeks to understand how anxiety affects students’ well-being and academic performance within this group. Method: International students from the university took part in this study, which used a mixed-method exploratory approach to gather and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. collected quantitative data through a cross-sectional survey conducted via Qualtrics. The questionnaire was adapted from the GAD-7 to fit the study’s goals. Analyzed the quantitative data using SPSS version 28, applying descriptive statistics, independent T-tests, one-way ANOVA, linear regression, and correlation analyses. For the qualitative (Photovoice) part, participants were asked to take photographs that reflected their experiences of anxiety. Performed polytextual and thematic analyses on the submitted photographs and narratives, offering insights into students’ anxiety and coping strategies as they adjusted to a new environment or country. Findings: The study found that older students and those further along in their academic programs reported higher anxiety levels, showing a significant association between age and anxiety. Anxiety was particularly high during both in-person and online presentations. Black/African students showed slightly higher academic anxiety (p = .10), while physical health had a marginal association (p = .098), with poorer health linked to higher anxiety. Frequent napping was associated with lower academic anxiety (p = .050), indicating it may act as a coping mechanism. Additionally, students who sought emotional support or therapy in the past year had lower anxiety than other international students. Photovoice findings revealed six main themes: academic pressure, emotional isolation, environmental triggers, cultural adjustment, coping strategies, and the researcher’s reflections. Conclusion: International students at the university face overlapping challenges related to academic anxiety, emotional isolation, and cultural adjustment. The findings indicate that anxiety increases with age, while frequent napping can be an effective coping mechanism. These insights highlight the need for comprehensive and focused support in university settings.

Date of publication

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4892

Committee members

Dr. William Sorensen, Dr. Cheryl Cooper, Dr. Kimberly Elliott

Degree

Master of Science in Health Sciences

Download

Share

COinS