Transitioning from high school to university life can be stressful. First year university students are increasingly facing various stress (e.g., academic, economic, romantic) and correspondingly physical and mental health problems (e.g., sleep problem, depression, anxiety). The issue might be even more problematic among international students, who frequently have to deal with other issues such as language barriers, discrimination, cultural shock, lack of proximal family support. What can freshmen do to better cope with their stress and perform well in school? How can we facilitate their acculturation and integration with the Canadian society and culture? We would like to examine various daily experiences, feelings, and activities among first year Canadian and international students to identify risk and protective factors in these daily processes.
Interested in getting involved in this research project as an honors or graduate student? Interested in getting involved as an independent study student or just want to volunteer? Please contact Dr. Zheng (yao.zheng@ualberta.ca)!