GCNRN4 Nursing Research Proposal: International Student Depression

This nursing research proposal investigates depression among international students in Sydney, Australia, highlighting the increased risk of mental health issues due to factors like cultural adjustment, academic pressures, and social isolation. The proposal includes a literature review that supports the higher incidence of mental health problems among international students compared to domestic students, especially in the 16-24 age group. The proposed research design involves a quantitative survey methodology with 200 international students from various Sydney universities, aiming to assess the intensity of depression using a questionnaire covering demographic details and mental health-related questions. Ethical considerations, such as informed consent and confidentiality, are addressed to ensure participant protection. The study's potential impact includes informing policy-making to alleviate pressure on international students and improving mental health support services. The research acknowledges limitations like the small sample size and potential reluctance of participants to share personal information.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON NURSING
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON NURSING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Literature review..............................................................................................................................2
Research Design and Methodology.................................................................................................5
Ethical considerations......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
As the world is getting globalized, there is a surge in the number of the students that
prefer the international education. Thus, the international students encounter a lot of
responsibilities which makes it hard for the them to balance the other vital aspects of life. The
international students have reported stress and they also have reported social isolation. The vital
fact of being an international student in Australia, gives the feeling of being alone in a new
country. That particular student will also experience new academic system, navigating through
the new culture, subject to the financial pressure. Thus, it can be highlighted that the individual
will be at a greater risk of mental ill health. Thus, this study will be carried out to perform a
proposal on the international students in Sydney that are suffering from depression. The
objective of the research is to bring out the problem of the depression among the international
student (Wynaden, Wichmann & Murray, 2013). The research will be conducted so as to the
bring the intensity of depression among the international students. Thus, better outcome to
reduce depression can be planned further.
Literature review
Since the early part of 2000, there has been a considerable increase in the mental health
among the young people that are studying in foreign countries. Furthermore, this issues have also
received a lot of attention. Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer (2016), emphasized that several studies
have indicated higher incidence of mental health issues among the international students in
comparison to the ones that the domestic students. Australia is the host of many international
students that belong to an age where the mental illness is likely to surface. The National Health
Survey on the Mental Health and Wellbeing has highlighted that the high rates of the mental
health disorder like the substance misuse, anxiety and depression. This occurs in the people that

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are aged between the 16 to 24 years (which is 24 percent of the overall Australian population).
the prevalence of depression and stress also reduced along with the decrease in the age (6
percent) and it is one in twenty. Furthermore, the increase in the depression and other mental
health issues have increased in the age group of 75 to 78 years. In a study conducted in Australia,
it has been found that the university counselling services showed an increase in the proportion of
the students that have the serious psychological problems. Over the past five years, there has
been a significant increase the high distress level among the university students that are of the
same age (Browne, Munro & Cass, 2017). This have also been supported by a similar survey
conducted in US and it showed that 95 percent of the directors of the college counselling agreed
that the students were experiencing a severe psychological problem. The western perspective has
highlighted and established that the peak time period where the mental ill health begins is 12 to
25 years. The social scientists have highlighted that there has been cultural change, social and
economic change that have altered the social parameters of the youth and it has mainly
contributed to the ill mental health among the young people. It is important to note that the
unstable and the rapidly changing social environment and increase in the surge of information at
a much earlier age than the previous generations. The rapidity with which the changes are
occurring and the way the newer generation has to deal with the greater amounts of the demands
and stresses in comparison to the previous generation has increased the chances of depression.
This also includes the changes in the social media, and the nature of the mass media, rapid
technological advances, increased competition and competition in the field of education, changes
in the functioning of the families, labour market insecurities (Khawaja, Chan & Stein, 2017). The
erosion and changes in the traditional forms of the rules and guidelines have led to the changes in
to the individuals and have also forced them to lead a fluid and a flexible life. The increasing

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population also experiences the different types of challenges that are associated with the new
environment and are first time for the individuals that even does not receive the traditional
family support. The diffident types of the challenges include the personal, cultural, financial and
the emotional issues that have the potential to impact the mental health (Silva et al., 2015).
While it has been confirmed by Creedy et al. (2017), that the factors that have been
identified to critically identify the mental health of the international students are development of
skills for the purpose of managing the different cultural context, adjusting to the different types
of the academic practices, recognizing as well as seeking the professional help that are related
with the mental health problems. It has been reported by majority of the international students
that they have experienced a phenomenon like the adaptation to the various cultural norms. The
other factors that have also contributed to the increase in the mental health problems among the
international students are the reports that highly focus on the increase in the mental health illness,
media reports on the mental health illness, and he increase mental health literacy, and resources
that provide a solid ground for the mental health problems (Tembo, Burns & Kalembo, 2017).
The recent trends have highlighted that the professional accounts have also been included. There
is a diversity in the growth of the student population due to the increase in the number of the
Universities. This has been accompanied with the marketization of the higher education, the
students are treated as the consumers that the creates the opportunities for the new pressures over
the international students. Furthermore, the online and individualized learning environment has
made it demanding and complex as because the collective supports used to be available earlier.
Thus, it can be seen that are challenges and tensions between the micro and the macro level
necessities of the market driven universities (Bond et al., 2015).

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In the year 2011, the National Summit on the Mental Health of Tertiary Students have
highlighted that there has been a rise in the number of the students that are seeking for the health
services and university counselling that presents with the suicidality, self-harming behaviour and
he mental illness. It provides a complex picture and requires a new responses and the new
interpretations. Thus, it is important to highlight that the academic difficulties can itself lead to
the personal problems and this in turn requires direct intervention and also require the skill
responses (Farrer et al., 2013). The international students have highlighted that in the early stages
the students face the issues pertaining to the culture shock. The capability of the students in
managing and interacting strongly are influenced by the mental health and the wellbeing of the
students. It is important to highlight that majority of the international students were not
responsible for their accommodation. Management of the part time jobs along with the budgetary
affairs are particularly stressful because there are situations of financial difficulties (Said, Kypri
& Bowman, 2013)
Research Design and Methodology
A survey will be carried out among the international students to collect the data. A
quantitative research methodology will be carried out and the design of the research will be
correlational and it assess the depression among the international students studying in Sydney.
Different universities in Sydney will be contacted for the purpose of collecting data for the
research. Survey question templates that are hosted on the QuestionPro will be used to produce
the survey questions (questionpro.com, 2019). Demographic details of the international students
will also be included like the marital status, nationality, sex and age. The survey questionnaire
will include 20 mental health questions. The main questions that will highlight the mental health
condition of the international students (respondents) are: “How will you rate the mental health?”,

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“are there any history of mental health in your family?”, “have you ever been diagnosed with the
mental health disorder?”, “if yes, select the family members that have been diagnosed with the
mental illness”, “are you taking any medication?”, “have you felt down or low for more than 2
weeks in row?”, “are you habituated with the alcohol and drugs?”, “when did you have last done
you mental health check-up?”, “are you knowledgeable about your mental health issues?”, “have
you ever seen a therapist in the recent past?”. The total number of the individuals or participants
that have been selected for the study will include 200 international students from Sydney. The
international students will be selected randomly so as to reduce the biasness. The international
students from the different universities will be asked to participate in the study voluntarily. There
will be a situation where some of the respondents will not be completing the survey or will be
opting out of the study process. Thus, the proposed study will include a threshold of 150
respondents and data will be analysed on the 150 respondents to minimize the occurrences of
data biasness and insufficient data. It is important to note that in the process of data analysis, Ms
Excel will be used so that the data can be analysed and represented on an easy interface. Graphs
and tables will be used to represent the data from that will include the different viewpoints as
well.
Ethical considerations
Before conducting the survey, the international students/participants will be provided
with the objective of the study in brief without giving much detail. Excessive amount of
information will not be provided to the respondents so as to minimizes the chances of biased
outcomes. A written consent will also be included and it will be collected each of the
respondents regarding their willingness to voluntarily participate in the study. Furthermore, the
respondents will be ensured that the personal information of the participants will not be shared

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with any person. Moreover, the name of the respondents that will participate in the study will be
kept confidential and the individuals will be provided with a code number during collection of
the response sheet. The data will be stored confidentially with the real identity of the respondent
hidden through the assigned code number. Unethical sharing of data will be prohibited as the
data will be kept confidential and away from any misuse by any person. Even when the data will
be represented then also the data will be kept hidden.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that study will be hindered by the possible
limitation that can emanate from the small sample size of just 200 international students. It is
important to mention that some of the respondents might not be willing to share the personal
information regarding their mental health condition. The potential impact of the proposed study
will highly impact the universities of the Sydney as well as word over. The data accumulated
form the study can be useful for the policy makers so that they can frame laws easing the
pressure from upon the international students. There are higher incidences of mental health
issues among the international students in comparison to the ones that the domestic students.
This occurs in the people that are aged between the 16 to 24 years and the prevalence of
depression and stress also reduced along with the decrease in the age and it is one in twenty. The
social scientists have highlighted that there has been cultural change, social and economic
change that have altered the social parameters of the youth and it has mainly contributed to the ill
mental health among the young people. The erosion and changes in the traditional forms of the
rules and guidelines have led to the changes in to the individuals and have also forced them to
lead a fluid and a flexible life. The diffident types of the challenges include the personal,
cultural, financial and the emotional issues that have the potential to impact the mental health.

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There is a diversity in the growth of the student population due to the increase in the number of
the Universities.

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Reference
Bond, K. S., Jorm, A. F., Kitchener, B. A., & Reavley, N. J. (2015). Mental health first aid
training for Australian medical and nursing students: an evaluation study. BMC
psychology, 3(1), 11.
Browne, V., Munro, J., & Cass, J. (2017). The Mental Health of Australian University Students.
Journal of the Australian & New Zealand Student Services Association, 25(2).
Creedy, D. K., Sidebotham, M., Gamble, J., Pallant, J., & Fenwick, J. (2017). Prevalence of
burnout, depression, anxiety and stress in Australian midwives: a cross-sectional survey.
BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 17(1), 13.
Farrer, L., Gulliver, A., Chan, J. K., Batterham, P. J., Reynolds, J., Calear, A., ... & Griffiths, K.
M. (2013). Technology-based interventions for mental health in tertiary students:
systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 15(5).
Forbes-Mewett, H., & Sawyer, A. M. (2016). International students and mental health. Journal
of International Students, 6(3), 661-677.
Khawaja, N. G., Chan, S., & Stein, G. (2017). The Relationship Between Second Language
Anxiety and International Nursing Students Stress. Journal of International Students,
7(3), 601-620.
questionpro.com. (2019). Top 20 Mental Health Survey Questions for Questionnaire + Sample
Template. Retrieved from https://www.questionpro.com/survey-templates/mental-health/

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Said, D., Kypri, K., & Bowman, J. (2013). Risk factors for mental disorder among university
students in Australia: findings from a web-based cross-sectional survey. Social
psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 48(6), 935-944.
Silva, D. D. S. D., Tavares, N. V. D. S., Alexandre, A. R. G., Freitas, D. A., Brêda, M. Z.,
Albuquerque, M. C. D. S. D., & Melo Neto, V. L. D. (2015). Depression and suicide risk
among nursing professionals: an integrative review. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem
da USP, 49(6), 1023-1031.
Tembo, C., Burns, S., & Kalembo, F. (2017). The association between levels of alcohol
consumption and mental health problems and academic performance among young
university students. PloS one, 12(6), e0178142.
Wynaden, D., Wichmann, H., & Murray, S. (2013). A synopsis of the mental health concerns of
university students: Results of a text-based online survey from one Australian university.
Higher Education Research & Development, 32(5), 846-860.

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