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Master Thesis Cross Sectional Study Comparing the Quality of Life

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Master Thesis Cross Sectional Study Comparing the Quality of Life Master Thesis Cross sectional study comparing the Quality of Life, Academic stress, Ethnic identification and Alcohol use of Norwegian and international students and examining the relationship between these variables By Mohammad Owais Hadi Master of Applied Social Sciences (International Social Welfare and Health Policy) Faculty of Social Sciences Oslo Metropolitan University 1 Acknowledgements Firstly, I acknowledge the blessings, mercy and grace of Allah who has helped me complete my thesis project as Allah has given me the courage and capability to conduct my survey and write this thesis with the best of my efforts. In addition to that, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of all those people who have helped me conduct my research and write this thesis. The most important amongst them was my supervisor Ashley Muller who guided me throughout my study from advising me to compare the quality of life of international and Norwegian students in a very ethical way to doing data analysis and correcting my thesis. Secondly, I thank all those Norwegian and international students who participated in my study by not only filling my questionnaire but also by promoting it to other students and the Norsk studentorganisajon who agreed to promote my survey to the best of their abilities. Thirdly, I thank the Norwegian data protection official Norwegian Centre for Research Data for providing me the ethical clearance to pursue data collection and Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research who provided me the questionnaire to measure the alcohol use of participants of my study. Finally, I am most thankful to my parents, sisters and friends whose wishes, prayers and support helped me complete this thesis project. Thank you very much all of you for providing me all kinds of support. 2 Abstract Background: An important part of the Norwegian higher educational system is international students who provide benefits through cultural exchange but who also face many challenges. To continue to attract international students, Norway must provide an environment conducive to their high quality of life, but little is known about their quality of life. Aim: The purpose of this study is to compare the quality of life, academic stress, ethnic identity and alcohol use of Norwegian and international students in Norway and to examine the relationships between these variables. Methods: An online survey quantified and gathered details from 83 Norwegian students and 111 international students about their quality of life, academic stress, ethnic identity, alcohol use, examinations, study hours, working hours and demographics gender, age, country of birth, citizenship, employment and relationship status. The two groups’ quality of life was compared and the relationships between their quality of life and the other variables were explored. Results: This study has found out that both international and Norwegian students reported similarities in their quality of life, alcohol use and ethnic identification but their academic stress levels differed as International students reported higher cumulative academic stress levels than Norwegian students. Conclusion: Academic stress may have an important negative effect on the quality of life of higher education students. This study highlights the need to compare the quality of life, academic stress, ethnic identification and alcohol use of domestic and international students across the world by conducting a longitudinal study on the quality of life, academic stress, ethnic identification and alcohol use of university students to suggest the factors responsible for causing changes in quality of life of university students. Sammendrag på norsk Bakgrunn: Internasjonale studenter er viktige for det norske høyere utdanningssystemet. De gir mange fordeler til Norge gjennom kulturell utveksling, men mange opplever også utfordringer. For å fortsette å tiltrekke seg internasjonale studenter må Norge tilby et miljø som bidrar til deres høye livskvalitet, men lite er kjent om studentenes livskvalitet. 3 Mål: Denne studien har som hensikt å utforske livskvalitet, akademisk stress, etnisk identitet, og alkoholbruk blant internasjonale studenter i Norge ved å sammenligne dem med norske studenter, og å undersøke forholdet mellom disse variablene. Metoder: En nettundersøkelse samlet informasjon fra 83 norske studenter og 111 internasjonale studenter om livskvalitet, akademisk stress, etnisk identitet, alkoholbruk, eksamener, timer brukt på studier, arbeid, økonomi, og demografiske variabler. Livskvalitet i de to gruppene ble sammenlignet og forholdene mellom disse og andre variabler ble utforsket. Resultater: Studien fant at både internasjonale og norske studenter rapporterte lik livskvalitet, alkoholbruk, og etnisk identitet, men internasjonale studenter hadde mer akademisk stress. Konklusjon: Akademisk stress kan ha negativ påvirkning på livskvalitet blant universitetsstudenter. Denne studien understreker at en longitudinell studie trenges for å kunne forstå faktorer som leder til bedre eller dårligere livskvalitet blant universitetsstudenter. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Norwegian language Abstract .................................................................................................... 2 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 International students pursuing Higher education .............................................................. 6 1.1.1 Benefits of International students .................................................................................... 7 1.1.2 Challenges faced by International students....................................................................... 9 1.1.3 Ethnic identity ................................................................................................................. 11 1.1.4 Acculturation................................................................................................................... 14 1.1.5 Academic stress .............................................................................................................. 21 1.1.6 Alcohol use ..................................................................................................................... 27 1.2 Quality of Life.................................................................................................................... 35 1.2.1 Quality of Life conceptual framework ............................................................................ 40 1.3 Setting ................................................................................................................................ 43 1.4 Knowledge gaps ................................................................................................................. 43 1.5 Theoretical framework ...................................................................................................... 45 2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 48 2.1 Research questions ............................................................................................................ 48 2.2 Aims .................................................................................................................................. 48 2.3 Hypotheses ........................................................................................................................ 49 2.4 Ethical considerations ....................................................................................................... 49 2.5 Participants and procedures .............................................................................................. 49 2.6 Variables .......................................................................................................................... 50 2.6.1Quality of Life variable ................................................................................................. 50 2.6.2Academic stress variable ................................................................................................ 51 2.6.3 Ethnic identification variable ........................................................................................ 51 2.6.4 Alcohol consumption frequency variable ...................................................................... 51 2.7 Instruments ........................................................................................................................ 51 2.7.1 WHOQOL BREF ........................................................................................................... 51 2.7.2 Academic stress scale .................................................................................................... 53 5 2.7.3 Multigroup ethnic identity measure ............................................................................... 54 2.7.4 Alcohol use questionnaire .............................................................................................. 55 2.7.6 Statistical analyses ......................................................................................................... 55 3 Results .................................................................................................................................. 55 3.1 Participant characterstics .................................................................................................
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