College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates.
Department of Psychology, International Islamic University, Malaysia.
J Affect Disord. 2017 Oct 1;220:108-116. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.05.037. Epub 2017 Jun 1.
Students who go to other countries for higher education face various psychological problems, particularly homesickness and depression. The objectives of this study were to: (a) identify differences between students who did and did not receive brief individual cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression to reduce homesickness; (b) identify whether brief individual CBT for depression reduces the level of homesickness in students between pre-, post- and follow-up assessment; and (c) compare the scores of students experiencing only homesickness and those experiencing both homesickness and depression.
The sample consisted of 520 first-year undergraduate international students. The experimental group contained students who were diagnosed with depression and homesickness and received seven sessions of brief individual CBT for depression to reduce homesickness. The control group contained students who were diagnosed with depression and homesickness and received one session of advice and suggestions. The comparison group contained students who experienced only homesickness and did not receive any interventions. The study used the comparison group to determine if an interaction effect existed between students experiencing only homesickness and students experiencing both homesickness and depression.
Students who received brief individual CBT displayed a significant reduction in their homesickness and depression scores compared to the scores of students in the control group. Students who experienced only homesickness exhibited a significant reduction in the scores on homesickness in the post-assessment compared to the control group's post-assessment homesickness scores.
The results of this study cannot be generalized as data were collected from three universities in Malaysia. The follow-up assessment was conducted six months after the post-assessment, which also limits generalizability beyond six months.
Overall, homesickness is considered a normal reaction. Brief individual CBT for depression is effective in reducing homesickness and depression among international students.
出国留学的学生面临着各种心理问题，尤其是思乡和抑郁。本研究的目的是：（a）确定接受或未接受简短个体认知行为疗法（CBT）治疗以减轻思乡的抑郁学生之间的差异；（b）确定简短个体 CBT 治疗是否会降低学生在前后评估时的思乡程度；（c）比较仅经历思乡和同时经历思乡和抑郁的学生的分数。
样本包括 520 名一年级本科国际学生。实验组包括被诊断为抑郁和思乡并接受七次简短个体 CBT 以减轻思乡的学生。对照组包括被诊断为抑郁和思乡并接受一次建议和建议的学生。比较组包括仅经历思乡且未接受任何干预的学生。该研究使用比较组来确定仅经历思乡的学生和同时经历思乡和抑郁的学生之间是否存在交互作用。
与对照组相比，接受简短个体 CBT 的学生的思乡和抑郁分数显著降低。与对照组的后评估思乡分数相比，仅经历思乡的学生在后评估中思乡分数显著降低。
由于数据来自马来西亚的三所大学，因此本研究的结果无法推广。后续评估是在后评估后六个月进行的，这也限制了超过六个月的推广。
总体而言，思乡是一种正常反应。简短个体 CBT 治疗对减轻国际学生的思乡和抑郁是有效的。
