Influential factors of acculturative stress among Xinjiang Kazak students studying in inland cities of China

Objective To explore influential factors of acculturative stress among Xinjiang Kazak students studying in inland cities of China and to provide references for related health promotion among the students.Methods The study was conducted in November 2014.Five universities in inland cities were selected via randomized cluster sampling from the universities providing preparatory university education for minority students.All Kazak students from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) in their preparatory year were recruited for a self-administered questionnaire survey with Chinese Version Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS).Results Valid questionnaires were collected from 298 students (10936.6%males and 18963.4%females) and the mean age of the students was 18.9±0.8 years (18.9±0.9 years for the males and 18.9±0.7 years for the females).The mean ASSIS score was 69.0±19.6 for all the students and there was no difference in the scores between the males and the females(69.7±20.2 vs.68.6±19.4,P=0.634).The students from rural Xinjiang had a higher acculturative stress score (72.2±20.9) than those from towns (65.0±16.5),counties (67.4±19.5),and cities (63.5±15.9)(P=0.023).The students from communities with high proportion of ethnic minority residents had a higher acculturative stress score than those from communities with high proportion of Han residents (71.9±20.9 vs.64.0±18.3,P=0.011).The students majoring in art had a higher acculturative stress score than the students majoring in science (74.3±22.2 vs.67.0±18.3,P=0.009).The results of multiple linear regression demonstrated that the students majoring in art were more likely to have relatively high acculturative stress than students majoring in science (β=-5.039,P<0.05) and the students with higher level of learning difficulty (β=-5.037,P<0.01)and worse Mandarin deficiency (β=-0.633,P<0.01) tended to have higher acculturative stress than other students.Conclusion Majoring in art,with learning difficulty and Mandarin deficiency are risk factors of acculturative stress among Xinjiang Kazak students studying in inland cities and the factors should be concerned in health promotion programs targeted at the students.