Perceived Social Support and Well-Being of International Students at an Italian University

Abstract

The present study aims at exploring international students’ well-being in relation to their perception of social support and dispersion of dependency on various resources. The participants were 139 international students at an Italian university who completed the WHO-5 Well-being Index, Symptom Checklist 90-R, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Dependency Grids. The results show that higher well-being is correlated with higher support and lower distress and that higher dispersion of dependency was associated with higher perceived support. International students who seek professional psychological help also report lower well-being, higher distress, and fewer resources compared with those who do not seek psychological support. Further, coming from collectivist cultures (rather than individualist ones) as well as being a long-term (rather than short-term) student was mostly associated with higher distress and less perceived support. These results suggest that counseling services for international students should help them find new sources of social support.