Studying-away Strategies: A Three-wave Longitudinal Study of the Wellbeing of International Students in the United Kingdom

: Few longitudinal studies have examined the changes over time in international students’ wellbeing. This study aimed to explore any change in wellbeing from the beginning of the first semester until the end of the academic year and the impact of using ‘wellbeing away’ strategies on international students’ wellbe ing. The survey used the Smith Wellbeing Questionnaire (SWELL), a ‘quality of university life’ questionnaire, a ‘being away strategies’ questionnaire and three open -ended questions focused on difficulties, coping strategies and the respondents’ most demanding time during their study period in the UK. A total of 104 participants completed the three phases. Repeated measurements showed no significant difference in students’ w ellbeing over the academic year. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that positive effects were predicted by positive personality, lower level of course demands, by unwinding after study and by quality of life in the second phase. Themes derived from open-ended responses showed that participants found the hardest parts were pre-arrival and the first few weeks in the UK: 48% of the students reported academic difficulties such as exams, deadlines and lack of adjustment to the education system. Time management and study-life balance were the next most difficult issues, especially for those who reported themselves married. Finally, students reported getting social support from family and friends and used exercise as a coping strategy. Results give support to the value of ‘studying away’ strategies that can help students who are away from home to maintain wellbeing.

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Introduction
Students may decide to study abroad for various reasons, but most think of ensuring a better future for themselves through higher education and higher-paid jobs. Studying away from home, however, has been linked with negative outcomes, such as depression, stress and feeling lonely during particular stages of transition. These outcomes vary across people. The literature on international students shows that some factors, such as cultural distance and English language fluency, affect the experience of studying abroad. For example, when students come from similar cultures, they tend to find the experience less stressful, and students with high English ability are generally better at academic work and communication with hostsociety members. Mixed and inconsistent results have been found for some factors, such as age and gender, in studies on international students (Alharbi & Smith, 2018).
Although researchers have paid much attention to international students' mental health issues, such as stress and depression, during adjustment and transition, little research has focused on students' well-being and the factors that affect moving from home to university. Subjective well-being-defined by the presence of positive affect, a lack of negative affect and a high degree of life satisfaction-is stable over the life course. However, it is affected positively and negatively by events, including the transition to university. For example, British students studying away from home reported higher anxiety and depression scores after their transition to university (Fisher & Hood, 1987). Similarly, international students in the United States experienced significant decreases in well-being after approximately three

Studying-away Strategies: A Three-wave Longitudinal Study of the Wellbeing of International Students in the United Kingdom
months (Cemalcilar & Falbo, 2008). Ying and Liese (1991) examined pre-and post-arrival changes in the emotional well-being of 171 Taiwan students in the United States. Of the sample, 55% reported postarrival decline in well-being, which was associated with a lack of preparation for overseas study, a smaller support network, fewer friends in the United States and lower levels of English language skills (Ying & Liese, 1991). Most of these factors have been mentioned in other studies and reviews and linked with negative outcomes (Alharbi & Smith, 2018;Andrade, 2006;Church, 1982;Wang & Xiao 2014;Zhang & Goodson, 2011). However, studies on maintaining well-being are rare. In one of the few studies addressing the maintain of wellbeing of international students, Tsenc and Newton (2001) conducted qualitative research with two international students in the United States. Tsenc and Newton (2001) found that the students used six strategies: An earlier investigation (Smith, Smith & Jelley, 2018) using the wellbeing-away-strategies model found that the being-away strategies were predictors of highquality university life, and the authors suggested that the use of being-away strategies mediated the relationship between positive wellbeing and the quality of university life. In addition, a comparison study by (Alharbi & Smith, 2019, in  give insights into the well-being of international students in the UK and the effectiveness of using being-away strategies for international students in the United Kingdom which could help develop an intervention to maintain well-being among people studying or working abroad or away from home.

Study Purpose
The study was aimed at extending the findings of previous studies of well-being away strategies and addressed the following questions:

Study Design
The longitudinal study design included a repeated The data files were linked by using the students' email as identification. Only the participants who completed phase 1 took part in phase 2, and only those who completed phase 2 took part in phase 3. All the measures used are shown in the appendix.

Sampling Procedure and Participants
Approval for the study was obtained from the ethics

Smith Wellbeing Questionnaire (SWELL):
Eighteen items covered aspects of well-being rated on The European Educational Researcher | 63 a 10-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = not at all to 10 = very much. This measure has been used in many studies investigating well-being among students  and workers (Smith & Smith, 2017). For the current investigation, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated as .68, which is acceptable in exploratory research. and what were your coping strategies?' at Time 2 'What was the most difficult part of your journey in studying abroad (e.g. pre-arrival, saying goodbye or being away)?' at Time 3.

Data Analysis
Only those who completed all phases of the study were

Demographic Variables, English Fluency, Year at University and Experience of Studying Abroad as Predictors of Well-being at the Beginning of Academic Year
Stepwise regression analyses were performed using positive and negative well-being at T1 as the outcomes and age, gender, marital status, English fluency, year at university and experience of studying abroad as the predictor variables. Gender was the only significant predictor of negative well-being (p < 0.001) and accounted for 10% of the variance in negative wellbeing at T1, with females reporting greater negative well-being. Positive well-being was predicted by year at university (p < 0.01) with first- year students reporting higher positive wellbeing. The overall model explained 7% of the variance in positive wellbeing at T1.

Using Wellbeing-away Strategies and Wellbeing
Six hierarchical regressions (two for each phase) were conducted to determine whether positive and negative wellbeing were predicted by factors related to wellbeing, such as positive personality, healthy lifestyle, quality of university life, course demand, control and support and, most importantly, the use of each being-away strategy.

Time 1
The first regression was conducted to determine the predictors of positive well-being at T1. The full results are shown in Table 5

Time 3
The fifth and sixth hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to determine the predictors of positive and negative well-being at T3. Financial difficulties and satisfaction with academic achievement were entered in step 1, while the three strategies related to the three stages of the well-being-away-strategies model were entered in step 2. The overall regression model was significant (F (9, 91) = 6.7, p < .001) and explained 41% of the variance in positive wellbeing at T3. Satisfaction with academic achievement (p < .001), fewer financial difficulties (p < .01) and lower levels of changing activities before returning home (p< .05) were significant predictors of positive well-being.
Negative wellbeing was predicted by lower satisfaction with academic achievement, higher levels

International Students' Responses to Open-ended Questions
Students reported that their main concerns at the beginning of the academic year were adjusting to student life, interaction and communication with local people, being alone and away from home, not making friends and the language barrier. Few reported financial difficulties or concerns about the weather or food. In the second phase, almost half of the sample reported academic difficulties as their biggest challenge, followed by time management, particularly for female, married students. Only 5% of respondents reported homesickness and loneliness, and just 3% reported difficulty adjusting to student life and communicating with local people. Getting support from family and friends and participating in sporting activities were the most common coping strategies used. In the final phase, students reported the prearrival stage and the first few weeks as the most difficult part of the journey of studying abroad.

Discussions
This study has explored changes in levels of wellbeing during the academic year and the effectiveness of well-being away strategies among international students in the UK. International students in this study reported moderate levels of both aspects of well-being.
Notably, positive levels of well-being level decreased over the academic year, while negative well-being decreased after time point one. This finding is consistent with previous studies: Distress levels were highest directly after entry in the host country and decreased over time as students adjusted to the environment (Ward et al., 1998). However, in the present study, international students reported the highest level of negative well-being at the end of the semester, which might be because of the examination held during the second semester. According to Golden (1973), students' moods rise and fall with the academic calendar. This is consistent with the responses to the open-ended question about the greatest challenges; almost 50% of participants mentioned academic issues, such as exams, writing essays, and meeting deadlines.
In terms of predicting well-being at the beginning of the academic year, it was expected that factors such as English proficiency and previous experience studying abroad would be significant predictors of well-being during the first phase, as many previous studies have shown that proficiency in the host language reduces international students' stress (Hickey, O'Reilly & Ryan, 2010;. In this study, firstyear students reported higher positive well-being than those in another year; this is consistent with a previous study (Alharbi & Smith, 2019, in press). Qualitative longitudinal research among first-year universities students is needed to understand better how the experience of studying abroad changes from the beginning of the academic year to the end of the year or following year. Furthermore, female participants were more likely to report negative well-being, which is also consistent with previous findings (Alharbi & Smith, 2019, in press;Mallinckrodt & Leong 1992;Rosenthal, Russell, & Thomson, 2008).
English proficiency and experience with studying abroad predicted general well-being as measured by participants' feelings over the previous six months.
This means that students who reported high scores in English and had previously studied abroad were less likely to experience negative well-being before arriving in the host country. Similar to other studies that have used the SWELL questionnaire (Smith & Smith, 2017;Smith et al., 2018), the present research found that positive factors led to positive outcomes and negative factors led to negative outcomes. In our study, a positive personality, high QUL, satisfaction with academic achievement, and facing fewer financial difficulties led to positive well-being. On the other hand, high course demands and financial difficulties led to greater negative well-being.
Another central objective of this study was to determine the strategies that predict positive wellbeing and help students maintain well-being. During phase one, discussing their expectations about studying abroad and acknowledging the reality of separation predicted negative well-being, which might be because students' expectations did not match reality. Also, acknowledging separation may be hard for most people as it is connected with loneliness, homesickness, and the loss of a social support network. All pre-departing strategies should aim to prepare students to transition and start university without focusing on leaving home. A previous study (Alharbi & Smith, 2019, in press) found that international students who used more pre-departing strategies reported higher positive well-being.
Furthermore, Ying and Liese (1990) found that Taiwanese students who prepared to study overseas were depressed but significantly less depressed than those who did not prepare.
In the second stage of the well-being away strategies model, only unwinding and relaxing after academic work predicted positive well-being. This model recommends different activities to maintain wellbeing. Li and Zizzi (2017) found that physical activity benefits international students, not only as a coping strategy but also as a way to build social networks in the host country. In this sample, students reported different coping methods, including physical activity and getting support from family and friends.
In the final phase, students were asked about their preparation to return, going home, and their experience of being back home. Changing activities to return home predicted negative well-being, mainly because of the timing of the third phase, which coincided with the second semester examination period. More research is needed to investigate these strategies and the five phases; research should also be done with a different population who work away from home. Designing an intervention that uses well-being away strategies would help clarify the effectiveness of each strategy, as in this study, students scored between 4 and 6 in most of the studying-away strategies.

Conclusion and Limitations
The current study contributes to knowledge about the well-being of international students in the UK by identifying patterns in both positive and negative wellbeing at three time points during the academic year.
The findings, firstly, show that several variables effect students' wellbeing and, secondly, support the value of the well-being away strategies model, which helps international students maintain their well-being and facilitates the adjustment process while reducing negative outcomes.
Although the results of this study include some noteworthy findings on the topic of international students' well-being, the methodology has several limitations. The first is attrition; the final sample is less than half the size of the initial sample. Secondly, the timing of the third data collection may have affected the findings to some extent, but as the sample size decreased by more than half in the second phase, it was decided to collect data before the summer break.
Finally, regarding the sample, all students were fulltime and more than half of the sample was of Arab ethnicity, which meant that one cannot generalise the findings to all international students in the UK or exchange or short-time students. Importantly, the age range was wide (18-40 years old), which was important to consider when studying wellbeing and adjustment among international students. However, in this study, age was not associated with any of the outcomes.
To what extent does the university strengthen bonds among individuals and facilitate access to culture and entertainment? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent does the university promote learning and progress? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Being away Questions
To what extent have you acknowledged and adapted to being away? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you live the reality of being away without over-reliance on technology (your phone, e-mail, Skype or social media)? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you make an effort to unwind after academic work? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Open-ended Questions
What is the most difficult challenge you faced in the last four months, and what were your coping strategies?

Being away Questions
To what extent do you expect to prepare for your return home? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent will you change activities before returning home to help the transition? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you consider that you and matters at home, or your perceptions of these, may have changed while you've been away? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent will you "stage" your return (e.g. break up the journey home)? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you expect to relax and unwind on the journey home? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you expect to take time to adjust to being in the home rather than the university environment? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To what extent do you expect to act on the realisation that time may be needed to psychologically adjust to being at home? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Financial difficulties
To what extent did you face financial difficulties during studying in the UK? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Satisfaction with academic achievement
To what extent are you satisfied with your academic achievement? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Open-ended Question What has been the most difficult part of your journey in studying abroad (e.g. pre-arrival, saying goodbye or being away?