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Article

Counselling Services and Mental Health for International Chinese College Students in Post-Pandemic Thailand

by
Huan Cao
1,
Weixin Lin
2,* and
Pengfei Chen
1
1
Chinese International College, Dhurakij Pundit University, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
2
Design School, Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou 571126, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(12), 866; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120866
Submission received: 17 October 2022 / Revised: 9 November 2022 / Accepted: 23 November 2022 / Published: 26 November 2022
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Research has proven that counselling services are essential to solving the troubles in the mental health of international Chinese students in the post-epidemic stage. Online questionnaires were implemented for about 1000 international Chinese college students from three universities in Thailand. Results showed that female junior and senior students who stayed in post-pandemic Thailand longer than others were likely to suffer from mental health disorders. In addition, in Thailand, counselling has a significant positive association with the mental health status of the students. Therefore, it is recommended in this study that Thai universities should provide more counselling services to support students in focusing on education and adjusting or adapting to the environment abroad.

1. Introduction

It has been proved that counselling services are essential to solve the troubles in the mental health of international Chinese students in the post-epidemic stage [1,2]. Researchers have found that these services contribute to psychological fitness for international Chinese college students who seek the support of mental health services [3]. Surveys have shown that few university counselling centres offered online counselling in 2019, but this volume surged in 2020, which has a lot to do with the coronavirus disease in 2019 [4]. Because of the influence of the Thai coronavirus disease, desperation and post-traumatic stress disorder were high among college students, ranging from 21% to 65%, mainly including two dimensions, namely, life adaptation and mental health disorders [5,6,7].
Previous researchers have shown that students in universities are especially susceptible to the negative association with mental health, and this especially applies to international students [8,9,10]. Thailand is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that is always in demand for Chinese students, and the number of students from China rose from 8444 in 2011 to about 400,000 in 2016, and this number continues to rise significantly [7]. Interestingly, it has been observed that female students’ mental health issues are different from male students’, and these differences appear to extend to younger versus older individuals and those with a lower versus higher educational level [11]. Although there has no difference between sexes in Thai universities for Chinese students, different the lengths of time they spend in Thailand and levels of education have been found to have different mental health problems of the students [7].
Most studies have been related to students’ mental health [12,13,14], while some have been focused on the counselling services offered to students [1,3,15]. However, there was no specific investigation report that links the psychological counselling provided to international Chinese students after the epidemic in Thailand to their mental health. Furthermore, after the pandemic, Chinese college students suffered from psychological problems in Thailand [5,6,7]. Therefore, this article is important to explore whether counselling has an active association with the mental health of international Chinese college students after the epidemic in Thai universities.

2. Literature Review

This section, which is divided into four parts, contains an in-depth discussion of the related literature. Prior research on counselling services is discussed in the first part, while the second part is committed to the research on mental health. The third part is related to the diathesis-stress model of mental health, and the last part concerns the effect of counselling services on mental health.

2.1. Counselling Services

Counselling services can improve students’ academic achievement, enhance their decision-making, and help them solve their vocational and personal social problems for better personal development [16]. Counselling services are developmental in minimising the negative aspects on students’ mental health and enabling students to solve their specific educational problems and any deficient academic skills, which are complementary [17]. The International Association of Counselling Services states that counsellors are essential to university and college communities because they play a professional, preventive, and instructional role, as well as contribute to campus safety [18]. The aim of counselling services is to address four international students’ psychological problems by fostering their independence and self-awareness, cultivating an elastic personality, supporting their ability to self-adjust, and encouraging them to develop peace of mind [19].
According to the above research, counselling services consist of four dimensions, each with five items: developmental counselling, adaptive counselling, disorder counselling, and intervention in psychological crises. The aim of the first dimension (developmental counselling) is to provide students with confidential assistance in relation to educational, vocational, personal, marital, developmental, and social problems [17,19]. The second dimension (adaptive counselling) can help students change by adapting to the changing environment [19]. The third dimension (disorder counselling) enables students to assess themselves and overcome any deficiencies [19]. The fourth dimension (psychology crisis intervention) cultivates students’ peaceful states of mind and contributes to campus safety [18,19].
The survey found that Thai college students were very optimistic about online counselling after the outbreak of COVID-19, which indicates that these counselling services were effective and had a positive association with how undergraduate students dealt with problems in their daily lives [10,20,21,22]. However, some international students are much less willing than their local counterparts to understand and use counselling services due to their diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and few international Chinese students use available professional counselling services despite having a high level of depression and anxiety symptoms [23,24]. Therefore, counsellors should pay close attention to students’ ideological dynamics and use psychological counselling methods that are particularly related to students’ ideology [25]. Colleges should further improve their existing counselling services and provide students with various kinds of assistance and support [8].

2.2. Mental Health

Mental health-related disabilities (e.g., despair, anxiety) affect about 450 million adults and adolescents and are a leading reason for global health disorders [26]. Life adaptation and mental health disorders are two dimensions of mental health [22,23]. Adaptation has been normally explained as a behavior or course of adapting one thing to acclimatize another, or to adapt to specific conditions (e.g., new or shifting circumstances) [27]. Mental health disorders are caused by the alteration in emotion, behaviour, or thought (or a mixture of these), and are related to distress or problems in the workplace, society, or the family environment [28].
International students have diverse backgrounds in cultural, ethnic, and religious terms, which means that some students would have a developmental adjustment to a different environment of learning and culture because it is hard for them to return to their home country during their study period [24]. Therefore, it is important to provide students who are studying abroad with a comfortable and well-organised learning environment that is conducive to self-adjustment and mental health [29]. According to a report, students who study abroad for long periods of time face varying degrees of mental health issues (e.g., dysphoric mood, desperation, and self-harm) probably due to having a new environment in the foreign country [23]. Adaptation is a vital part of managing the everyday lives and social interactions of international Chinese undergraduate students in a new cultural setting in Thailand [22]. Researchers have found that international Chinese students’ life adaptation is influenced by different college degrees and lengths of residence in Thailand, which cause mental health problems to varying degrees [7]. Based on the above findings, it can be depended on that the mental status of college students from China in Thailand would change due to their life adaptability and mental problems after the epidemic.

2.3. Diathesis-Stress Model

The “adaptability and mental health status of college graduates” were derived from a diathesis–stress model [30], which provides evidence of college students’ mental health disorders when they cannot adapt to life changes [31]. The psychological stress theory emerged in the 1960s with breakthrough research on stress-related theories. Psychological stress primarily refers to psychological tension caused by a sudden traumatic experience or various stressful daily-life events [32]. The psychological theory of diathesis-stress model attempts to equate behaviour with a predisposition vulnerability to stress caused by life events; for example, when the combination of predisposition and stress people experience exceed the threshold and they develop mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, or even schizophrenia [33].
When applying the diathesis–stress model, researchers have observed that stress greatly affects life satisfaction, which, in turn, directly affects anxiety and negative emotions [34]. Lien studied the relationship between three dimensions of students’ life adaptation, namely, personal relationships, family, and school, and four types of mental health disorders, namely, inclination to drop out, tendency to commit a crime, a tendency to abuse drugs, and depressive self-injury [35]. The ability to adapt is essential, especially in the learning environment, because collaboration is emphasised for the effective and efficient operation of all learning activities [19]. The results of applying the diathesis–stress model to college students showed that they are particularly at high risk of contracting five mental health disorders, scilicet, depression, anxiety, self-harm, impulsion, and mental distress [31]. In addition, in terms of discussing the mental illness and life adaptability of college students, this paper also found that male and female students living in Thailand for one to two years were prone to major mental illness [7].

2.4. Counselling Services and Mental Health

Through an online survey, about 80% college students reflected that coronavirus disease 2019 has difference on their mental health, and about 20% of them reflected that their mental health had been worse than before the pandemic [36]. Research has found that 12–50% of international college students experience similar mental troubles [8]. International Chinese students specifically face mental health problems, for instance, dysphoric mood and desperation in post-pandemic Thailand [21]. It has also been found that college students’ psychological happiness declines a lot during the first semester due to mental health disorders with no university support [21]. Problems that have been identified in the first two months of returning to college include both sensual and mental health elements because of the stress of COVID-19 [37]. Meanwhile, the longer college students from China stay in the universities of Thailand, the more mental health problems they experience [7]. Therefore, the first question is proposed as follows:
Question 1: Do different lengths of stay in Thailand for international Chinese college students vary their mental health after the pandemic?
The survey found that under the impact of the new round of epidemic, the mental health matters of college students dropped by 8.1% on average, especially for women, and the mental health problem of Thai girls is higher than that of boys [38,39,40]. It was found that the COVID-19 virus was more prevalent and lethal in women than in men (31% and 39% more than in men, respectively), and caused women to suffer from worse depression, panic attacks, and loneliness than men [41]. Female students have a much higher level of stress by contrast to male students based on a survey of 162 undergraduates [42]. Since it has been observed that women’s post-pandemic mental health disorders are different from men’s in Thailand [6,11,43], the second question is proposed as follows:
Question 2: Do different genders of international Chinese college students vary in their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand?
Furthermore, the level of undergraduate students’ depression, anxiety, and other psychological stress has been found to increase during the post-pandemic period [15]. It was found that senior college students have more dysphoric moods than freshmen, according to a previous survey of 162 undergraduate students [42]. The mental health disorders of college freshmen are considered normal and are clearly associated with lower academic functioning [8]. As for international college students in Thailand, the coronavirus disease 2019 was discovered to have an inactive association with their mental health, especially freshmen [23,44,45]. Therefore, the third question is proposed as follows:
Question 3: Do different educational levels of international Chinese college students vary in their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand?
The symptoms of depression and anxiety reported by international college students may be alleviated by seeking counselling services [46]. Students who obtain psychological support from counselling services are capable of handling their difficulties in an appropriate way and fitting better into everyday life [47]. Counselling services specifically designed to reduce stress and deal with mental health disorders have a positive association with undergraduate students in post-pandemic Thailand [22]. Since there is a great deal of evidence of the important role counselling services play in restoring students’ mental health in post-pandemic Thailand [44], the fourth question is proposed as follows:
Question 4: Do the counselling services offered to international Chinese college students vary in their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand.
Based on the literature, the following specific hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 1.
Different lengths of stay in Thailand for international Chinese college students varied in their mental health after the pandemic.
Hypothesis 2.
Different genders of international Chinese college students varied in their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand.
Hypothesis 3.
Different educational levels of international Chinese college students varied in their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand.
Hypothesis 4.
Counselling services have a significant variation on international Chinese college students’ mental health in post-pandemic Thailand.

3. Method

The method this paper used to measure the role of college students from China in Thailand in terms of life adaptation, mental health disorders, and psychological counselling after the pandemic.

3.1. Participants and Samples

In this study, the participants were international Chinese college students from B, Z, and Q universities in Thailand who responded to a questionnaire via an online survey. Each of these three universities provides a mental health centre to support international Chinese students. Convenience sampling was used to recruit undergraduate students as participants in February 2022. This date was selected because, having considered the global trend and after evaluating scientists’ assessments of the epidemic, the government of Thailand announced people would go back to work and production throughout the country in February 2022, and educational institutions gradually resumed classes [48]. According to National Policy and Guidelines for Human Research 2015 in the National Research Council of Thailand, the paper was written mainly focusing on the ethics committee and volunteers’ parts.
There were 1200 questionnaires completed and collected, but 178 of them were invalid, leaving 1022 valid questionnaires with approximately 85% validity. There were three background variables: gender, educational level, and length of stay in Thailand. As for gender, males accounted for 559 (54.7%) and females accounted for 463 (45.3%). As for their educational level, 119 (11.64%) were freshmen, 119 (11.64%) were sophomores, 468 (45.79%) were juniors, and 316 (30.92%) were seniors. During their stay in Thailand, 231 people (22.6%) stayed in Thailand for less than 6 months; 70 (6.85%) in 1–2 years; 142 (13.89%); 200 (19.57%) in 2–3 years; and 379 (37.08%) in more than 3 years.

3.2. Measures

This research focuses on English and Chinese, aiming to make the students participating in Chinese become qualified Chinese learners. The questionnaire included background information, mental health scale, and counselling services scale.

3.3. Counselling Services Questionnaire

The counselling services questionnaire was based on four aspects, namely, developmental counselling, adaptive counselling, disorder counselling, and intervention in psychological crises [17,18,19]. On the basis of the Cronbach alpha factor of 0.987, we invited five professionals in education and practice to evaluate the data from this survey. The survey has 20 items in four dimensions based on five Likert scales, from 1 = strongly opposed to 5 = very agreed. According to the opinions and suggestions of professionals, the overall alpha value of Cronbach of the counselling services questionnaire was 0.950. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the basis that as χ2/df was 3.575, NFI was 0.969, CFI was 0.977, and RMSEA was 0.05, and all the indicators indicated that this was a good model.

3.4. Mental Health Scale

Two dimensions of the mental health scale were addressed in this study in relation to international college students in post-pandemic Thailand, namely, life adaptation and mental health disorders. The “adaptability and mental health status of college graduates” were derived from a diathesis–stress model [30]. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, and a good fit of life adaptation indicated that the X2 goodness-of-fit test was 3.69, the goodness-of-fit index (CFI) was 0.92, the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) was 0.94, and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.06. An adequate fit of mental health disorders was indicated by an X2 goodness-of-fit test of 4.69, a CFI of 0.91, a TLI of 0.94, and an RMSEA of 0.06 [31]. Therefore, the study has chosen to use the mental health scale of Chen et al. [30]. Students’ life adaptability includes 28 items in time management, learning, family relationships, interpersonal relationships, emotion, and self-worth. There are 29 kinds of psychological problems, including self-injury, depression, and other mental diseases.
The mental health questionnaire was divided into 1 = never appeared to 5 = always happened by using the 5-point Likert scale in the study. A score of 3 or higher indicates that they may have issues with life adaptation or mental health problems. The alpha factors are 0.95 and 0.96, respectively, showing higher internal coherence. Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of the questionnaire. The alpha value of Cronbach of the mental health questionnaire was 0.972. A confirmatory factor analysis was analyzed on account of the mental health scale where χ2 /df was 4.16, the normed fit index (NFI) was 0.902, and the results show that the fitting coefficient and average regression error of the model are 0.923 and 0.056, respectively. According to this data, all the indicators showed that this was a good model.

4. Results

4.1. Preliminary Analysis

According to an analysis conducted by a single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA), this analysis confirmed the assumption that, different lengths of stay in Thailand for international Chinese college students varied in their mental health after the pandemic. It can be seen from Table 1 that life adaptation (F = 108.082, p < 0.01) and mental health disorders (F = 49.499, p < 0.01) are two dimensions in Thailand that have vital variations in the mental health of students in different periods in Thailand (i.e., less than 6 months, 6 months to 1 year, 1 to 2 years, 2 to 3 years, and above 3 years).
The results showed that the average scores of life adaptation from 6 months to 1 year (M = 3.68, SD = 0.37), from 1 to 2 years (M = 3.87, SD = 0.33), from 2 to 3 years (M = 3.79, SD = 0.34), and above 3 years (M = 3.94, SD = 0.41) were significantly different from those of those who stayed less than 6 months (M = 0.31, SD = 0.37). This revealed that the life adaptation of the students who stayed in Thailand longer after the outbreak of influenza was significantly worse than those who did not. The results of the post-mortem examination also showed that the average score (M = 3.87, SD = 0.33) of students with 1 to 2 years was statistically significant than that of students with 2 to 3 years (M = 3.79, SD = 0.34). This indicated that those students who stayed for 2 to 3 years adjusted significantly better to life in post-pandemic Thailand than those who only stayed for 1 to 2 years.
The post-test on mental health problems of students found that there were significant differences between staying in Thailand for 1 to 2 years (M = 3.78, SD = 0.62), 2 to 3 years (M = 3.35, SD = 0.51), above 3 years (M = 3.75, SD = 0.66), and less than six months (M = 3.16, SD = 0.52). It noted that after the pandemic, students who stayed in Thailand for a long time would have serious psychological problems. However, the results of the post-test also showed that the average score (M = 3.78, SD = 0.62) of students with 1 to 2 years was statistically significant compared with students with 2 to 3 years (M = 3.35, SD = 0.51). This indicated that those students staying in post-pandemic Thailand for 1 to 2 years exerted a significant status of mental health disorders than those who stayed for 2 to 3 years.
In addition, there is also a significant distinction in the length of the students’ stay in Thailand (F = 74.226, p < 0.01). There is a significant distinction between the average scores of the post-test for 6 months to 1 year (M = 3.68, SD = 0.36), 1 to 2 years (M = 3.77, SD = 0.37), 2 to 3 years (M = 3.85, SD = 0.39), above 3 years (M = 3.88, SD = 0.44) and the average scores of the post-test for less than six months (M = 3.33, SD = 0.34). This showed that the students staying in Thailand longer sought more counselling services.
It can be seen from Table 2 that Hypothesis 2 is the influence of mental health and counselling services on their life adaptability (t = −8.853, p < 0.001) and mental illness (t = −7.074, p < 0.001) among college students of different genders from China in Thailand. The t-test of life adaptation revealed that the average scores of men and women (M = 3.63, SD = 0.45) were statistically significant (M = 3.87, SD = 0.42); this implies that female international Chinese college students find it harder to adapt to life in post-pandemic Thailand than male students. In addition, the t-test of mental diseases illustrated that the score of males (M = 3.38, SD = 0.59) was significantly different from that of females (M = 3.66, SD = 0.67). This indicated that female college students from China could have more mental health disorders than males in post-pandemic Thailand.
However, counselling services had no significant variation among international Chinese college students of different genders in post-pandemic Thailand (t = −0.562, p > 0.05). This indicated that counselling services had the same effect on both male and female international Chinese college students.
Hypothesis 3 obtained the ANOVA of the variation of Chinese college students in Thailand’s freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years after the outbreak of influenza. There were differences in life adaptation among college students with different degrees (F = 138.56, p < 0.01) and mental health problems (F = 53.181, p < 0.01) as shown in Table 3. According to the post-contrast of Schefft method, the scare value of adaptability of freshmen (M = 3.29, SD = 0.32) and sophomores (M = 3.36, SD = 0.43) compared with juniors (M = 3.80, SD = 0.33) and seniors (M = 3.97, SD = 0.44) was different. The results showed that, compared with freshmen and sophomores, junior and senior students had more difficulties adapting to post-pandemic Thailand. There is a significant distinction between the average score of the elderly (M = 3.97, SD = 0.44) and that of the young (M = 3.80, SD = 0.33), indicating that the living conditions of the young are better than those of the elderly after the Thailand pandemic.
The post-test on mental health problems of students found that there were significant differences between freshmen (M = 3.14, SD = 0.54) and sophomores (M = 3.19, SD = 0.54) compared with juniors (M = 3.48, SD = 0.56) and seniors (M = 3.81, SD = 0.68). The results showed that, compared with freshmen and sophomores, junior and senior students had more mental health troubles in post-pandemic Thailand. In particular, juniors (M = 3.48, SD = 0.56) compared with seniors (M = 3.81, SD = 0.68) were different, implying that the status of mental health matters among the young is better than the elderly in post-pandemic Thailand.
In addition, after the outbreak of the epidemic, Chinese students from all walks of life in Thailand also had a significant variation in psychological counselling (F = 88.486, p < 0.01). In the post-test, the effects of psychological counsellors on freshmen (M = 3.29, SD = 0.32) and sophomores (M = 3.36, SD = 0.43) compared with sophomores (M = 3.80, SD = 0.44) were different, indicating that juniors and seniors could benefit more from mental health services than freshmen and sophomores.

4.2. Correlation and Regression Analysis

There was a positive correlation between life adaptation and mental illness (p < 0.01, r = 0.419), which indicated that adapting to life quickly may lead to better mental health. The correlation coefficient between adapting to life and counselling services was a significant and positive one (p < 0.01, r = 0.697), as it indicated that counselling services enabled students to adjust to life more quickly. The correlation coefficient between counselling services and mental health disorders was a significant and positive one (p < 0.01, r = 0.183), as it indicated that counselling services played a role in treating mental health disorders. Therefore, as shown in Table 4, these overall results revealed that counselling services had a significant and positive influence on students’ mental health.
Hypothesis 4 was supported, as can be seen from the analysis by regression on the mental health variable of international Chinese college students to predict counselling services scores in Table 5. The results illustrated that the difference in mental health was 39.3%, F (41.017) = 164.551, and p < 0.05. This shows that counselling has a greater positive variation on the mental health of college students from China in post-pandemic Thailand.

5. Discussion

5.1. Discussion on Counselling Services and Mental Health

The purpose of the paper was to understand whether the counselling services offered to international Chinese college students after post-pandemic Thailand would vary in their mental health. Life adaptation and mental health problems are involved in two aspects of mental health. Developmental counselling, adaptive counselling, disorder counselling, and intervention in psychological crises are related to counselling services. The survey found that female junior and senior students staying in Thailand longer than others were likely to suffer mental health disorders due to background variables. Psychological counselling has a significant variation on their mental health.
Firstly, after the outbreak of the epidemic, the mental health of college students from China in Thailand has obvious differences in different periods. This result corresponded with that of previous studies in which it was found that international Chinese students specifically faced mental health disorders, such as dysphoric mood and desperation, in post-pandemic Thailand [21] and that the longer they stay in Thailand, the more mental health problems they experience [7]. Some previous researchers found slightly different results in terms of the first demographic finding, which was that Chinese college students did not adapt to life abroad and faced mental health disorders leading to the decline of their well-being in the first two months or first semester of returning to college due to the stress of coronavirus disease 2019 [28,37].
Secondly, the mental health level of Chinese college students of different genders in Thailand is obviously different. This result is different from previous studies, which did not find gender differences in life adaptation and mental illness among Chinese overseas students [15]. However, compared with female students after the pandemic in Thailand, the degree of mental illness among female students is significantly higher than that of male students [6,11,43]. Thai girls tend to have more psychological problems than boys [39,40]. Researchers have also found that the coronavirus disease 2019 was more prevalent and lethal in women than in men, which caused women to suffer from worse depression, panic attacks, and feelings of loneliness than men [41].
Thirdly, different educational degrees of the students varied in mental health in post-pandemic Thailand. Previous researchers found that the dysphoric mood, desperation, pressure, and other psychological stress levels of undergraduate students increased during the post-pandemic period [15]. However, the current survey shows that coronavirus disease 2019 has had a negative variation on the mental health of Thai university students, but what was different was that the live adaptation of juniors and seniors was significantly worse than that of freshmen and sophomores [23,44,45]. What is more, the results were in similar that upper-class college students were inclined to dysphoric mood compared to freshmen [42].
The study found that after the 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak in Thailand, the mental health of Chinese college students had significantly improved. The result was similar to previous studies that counselling services could help to alleviate the condition of students with depression and anxiety, enable them to resolve their problems in a healthy way, and adapt more easily to daily life in post-pandemic Thailand [22]. According to Al-Rabiaah et al. [47], counselling services that are specifically designed to reduce stress and deal with mental health disorders have a positive variation on undergraduate students in post-pandemic Thailand. Labrague et al. [3] also found that there was an active relationship between psychological support and psychological happiness among international Chinese college students who sought mental health services. Mental health explained about 39.3% of the variation in counselling service scores, which indicated that international Chinese college students could easily adapt to life abroad and that their mental health disorders declined after seeking counselling services.
Before the epidemic, researchers discovered that international Chinese students cannot adapt to life causing mental health matters (e.g., dysphoric mood, desperation, and self-harm) [7]. Because of the influence of the Thai coronavirus disease in 2019, desperation and post-traumatic stress disorder were high among college students, ranging from 21% to 65% [5,6,7]. Therefore, counselling services play a significant role in restoring students’ mental health in post-pandemic Thailand [7].

5.2. Implications and Further Future Work

This study showed the variation of counselling services on international Chinese college students’ mental health from three universities in post-pandemic Thailand. The results of this study indicated that counselling services offered to international Chinese college students had an important variation on their mental health in post-pandemic Thailand [22]. Hence, it is proposed that this finding could raise the awareness of international Chinese college students seeking mental services in order to better prepare for studying abroad in a healthy and safe environment that will help to alleviate any signs of depression and anxiety [46]. According to Al-Rabiaah et al. [47], students who obtain psychological support from counselling services are capable of handling their troubles in an appropriate way and fitting more easily into everyday life. In addition, the provision of mental health assistance to international Chinese students in the post-epidemic stage plays an important role in their well-being [2].
Future research might explore more variables about the mental illness of the students so as to find a way out and help improve the mental health of international students. Future researchers are advised to use a mixed-method design based on questionnaires and interviews. Future researchers should combine questionnaires with interviews to better understand the practical significance of counselling for students’ mental health. What is more, future research might explore which types of counseling services are more helpful to mental health.

6. Conclusions

To sum up, this report analysed the mental health of international Chinese college students in Thailand after the outbreak of influenza and provides counselling for students with mental illness. The mental health of international Chinese college students was related to educational background, gender, and time spent in Thailand [28,40,42]. After the outbreak of the epidemic in Thailand, the counseling service for mental health troubles among college students from China played a key role [44]. As mentioned above, Future research might explore more variables on the mental illness of the students so as to find a way out and help improve the mental health of international students. in order to find solutions to these issues for a better life abroad [14,49]. Additionally, future research might explore which types of counseling services are more helpful to mental health. Furthermore, Thai universities should provide international students with more counselling services to support them in their efforts to remain focused on their higher education while simultaneously adjusting or adapting to their new environment [25,50].

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.C. and W.L.; methodology, H.C.; software, W.L.; validation, H.C., W.L. and P.C.; formal analysis, H.C.; investigation, H.C.; resources, P.C.; data curation, W.L.; writing—original draft preparation, H.C.; writing—review and editing, H.C.; visualization, W.L.; supervision, W.L.; project administration, P.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to National Policy and Guidelines for Human Research 2015 in the National Research Council of Thailand.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the students and teachers who participated in this research.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Table
Table 1. Analysis of mental health and counselling services with different lengths of stay in Thailand.
Table 1. Analysis of mental health and counselling services with different lengths of stay in Thailand.
VariablesLNMS1ANOVAPH
SVS2F1MF
Life adaptationA2313.310.37Bg59.575419.858108.082 **E, D, C, B > A
B703.680.37Wg145.89810170.143E, D, C > B
C1423.870.33T205.4731021 C, E > D
D2003.790.34
E3793.940.41
Mental health
disorders		A2313.160.52Bg68.693417.17349.499 **E, D, C > A
B703.270.54Wg352.83910170.347C, E > B
C1423.780.62T421.5321021 C, E > D
D2003.350.51
E3793.750.66
Counselling
services		A2313.330.39Bg47.635411.90974.226 **E, D, C, B > A
B703.680.36Wg163.16410170.16D, E > B
C1423.770.37T210.7991021 E > C
D2003.850.39
E3793.880.44
Note: A = less than 6 months (N = 231), B = 6 months to 1 year (N = 70), C = 1 to 2 years (N = 142), D = 2 to 3 years (N = 200), E = above 3 years (N = 379); Bg = Between groups; L = Lengths of stay in Thailand; M = mean; Wg = Within groups; T = Total; S1 = standard deviation, S2 = sum of squares, M = mean square, F1 = degree of freedom; PH = post hoc; ** p < 0.01.
Table
Table 2. Results of mental health and counselling services on different genders.
Table 2. Results of mental health and counselling services on different genders.
VariablesMaleFemaletpCohen’s d
MSDMSD
Life adaptation3.630.453.870.42−8.8530.000 0.556
Mental health disorders3.380.593.660.67−7.0740.000 0.45
Counselling services3.710.463.730.44−0.5620.5740.035
Note: Female (N = 559), Male (N = 463).
Table
Table 3. Analysis on mental health and counselling services with different academic degrees.
Table 3. Analysis on mental health and counselling services with different academic degrees.
VariablesLNMS1ANOVAPH
SVS2F1MF
Life adaptationA1193.290.32Bg61.292315.323138.56 **C, D > A, B
B1193.360.43Wg144.18110180.142D > C
C4683.800.33T205.4731021
D3163.970.44
Mental health
disorders		A1193.140.54Bg57.112319.03753.181 **C, D > A, B
B1193.190.54Wg364.4210180.358D > C
C4683.480.56T421.5321021
D3163.810.68
Counselling
services		A1193.360.34Bg43.6314.53388.486 **C, D > A, B
B1193.340.43Wg167.19910180.164
C4683.810.38T210.7991021
D3163.870.46
Note: A = Freshman (N = 119), B = Sophomore (N = 119), C = Junior (N = 468), D = Senior (N = 316); Bg = Between groups; L = Lengths of stay in Thailand; M = mean; Wg = Within groups; T = Total; S1 = standard deviation, S2 = sum of squares, M = mean square, F1 = degree of fredom; PH = post hoc; ** p < 0.01.
Table
Table 4. Results of correlation analysis of study variables.
Table 4. Results of correlation analysis of study variables.
MSDLAMCS
Life adaptation (LA)3.7430.4491
Mental health disorders (M)3.5090.6430.419 **1
Counselling services (CS)3.7210.4540.697 **0.183 **1
Note: N = 1022; LA = life adaptation, M = Mental health disorders, CS = Counselling services; ** p < 0.01.
Table
Table 5. Prediction of psychological health factors on counselling service.
Table 5. Prediction of psychological health factors on counselling service.
VariableDependent Variable
Mental Health
BβSE
Constant1.643 **-0.101
Background variable
Gender		0.202 **0.220.023
EL0.119 **0.2460.021
LS0.029 *0.10.013
Independent variable
Counselling services		0.334 **0.3320.028
R20.393
∆ R2 0.391
Note: EL = Educational level, LS = Length of stay in Thailand, N = 1022, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
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Cao, H.; Lin, W.; Chen, P. Counselling Services and Mental Health for International Chinese College Students in Post-Pandemic Thailand. Educ. Sci. 2022, 12, 866. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120866

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Cao H, Lin W, Chen P. Counselling Services and Mental Health for International Chinese College Students in Post-Pandemic Thailand. Education Sciences. 2022; 12(12):866. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120866

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Cao, Huan, Weixin Lin, and Pengfei Chen. 2022. "Counselling Services and Mental Health for International Chinese College Students in Post-Pandemic Thailand" Education Sciences 12, no. 12: 866. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120866

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Cao, H., Lin, W., & Chen, P. (2022). Counselling Services and Mental Health for International Chinese College Students in Post-Pandemic Thailand. Education Sciences, 12(12), 866. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120866

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