International Students’ Coping Strategies and Psychological Adaption during Early the COVID-19 Outbreak Period in China

摘要

This study aims to understand international students’ coping strategies and psychological adaption during the early pandemic of 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19). By using the convenience and purposive sampling strategy, we selected four participants who were staying in mainland China at the outbreak of COVID-19. They were asked to keep diaries for 3 weeks and attend an interview afterwards. Analysis of participants’ diaries and interview transcriptions indicated that international students’ source of information about COVID-19 was mainly from English websites; their solutions in the special period were to stay at home; they isolated themselves from the public, wore facial masks when going out, received timely support from their educational institution and did many self-relaxing exercises. Psychologically speaking, they felt panicked at the beginning and gradually became calm; initiatives and measures implemented by governments at all levels in China during the pan demic have won their high praise and China’s image has become better, more trustworthy and reliable. These findings provide valuable insights about international students and educational institutions around the world as COVID-19 is continuing; they also add more evidence for positive psychology ; that is, individuals’ positive feelings largely depend on the environment where they live, such as their teachers, universities, and the society.