A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era
Objective: This paper aims to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental distress of the Vietnamese students in the USA. We explore different root causes of mental distress among international students who are away from their home country, their loved ones, and being isolated from school a...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
ACHSM
2020-07-01
|
| Series: | Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.achsm.org.au/index.php/achsm/article/view/459 |
| _version_ | 1811293977160187904 |
|---|---|
| author | Ngoc Cindy Pham Juehui Richard Shi |
| author_facet | Ngoc Cindy Pham Juehui Richard Shi |
| author_sort | Ngoc Cindy Pham |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: This paper aims to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental distress of the Vietnamese students in the USA. We explore different root causes of mental distress among international students who are away from their home country, their loved ones, and being isolated from school and community due to this outbreak.
Design: In-depth interviews were conducted to probe the reasons for mental stress during the pandemic and the narrative textual analysis was subsequently performed to analyze the results. This research includes the interviews of 20 Vietnamese students in the USA during the COVID-19 era.
Results: The textual analysis showed that the mental distress of these Vietnamese students were caused by limited access to on-campus facilities and activities, limited access to public services including grocery shopping, transportations, clinics, the possibility of being infected, isolated living condition due to the lockdown order, and inability to go back to the home country when wanted.
Conclusions: We found that both physical attributes (e.g., living condition, internet difficulty, overwhelmed healthcare system, restricted traveling, lack of personal interaction, limited access to public services) and psychological factors (e.g., anxiety of unfamiliar teaching modality, fear of viral infection, uncertain career aspects, cultural barrier and prejudice) directly led to the mental distress of these students. Moreover, other factors such as turbulent future job markets and potential racism toward Asians in relation with “Chinese virus” may cause the mental distress of these students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:09:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2c9200d495446349279f93a81a52d6e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1833-3818 2204-3136 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:09:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | ACHSM |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2c9200d495446349279f93a81a52d6e2022-12-22T03:01:04ZengACHSMAsia Pacific Journal of Health Management1833-38182204-31362020-07-01153455710.24083/apjhm.v15i3.459369A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 EraNgoc Cindy Pham0Juehui Richard Shi1CUNY – Brooklyn College, New York, USAAngelo State University, USAObjective: This paper aims to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental distress of the Vietnamese students in the USA. We explore different root causes of mental distress among international students who are away from their home country, their loved ones, and being isolated from school and community due to this outbreak. Design: In-depth interviews were conducted to probe the reasons for mental stress during the pandemic and the narrative textual analysis was subsequently performed to analyze the results. This research includes the interviews of 20 Vietnamese students in the USA during the COVID-19 era. Results: The textual analysis showed that the mental distress of these Vietnamese students were caused by limited access to on-campus facilities and activities, limited access to public services including grocery shopping, transportations, clinics, the possibility of being infected, isolated living condition due to the lockdown order, and inability to go back to the home country when wanted. Conclusions: We found that both physical attributes (e.g., living condition, internet difficulty, overwhelmed healthcare system, restricted traveling, lack of personal interaction, limited access to public services) and psychological factors (e.g., anxiety of unfamiliar teaching modality, fear of viral infection, uncertain career aspects, cultural barrier and prejudice) directly led to the mental distress of these students. Moreover, other factors such as turbulent future job markets and potential racism toward Asians in relation with “Chinese virus” may cause the mental distress of these students.https://journal.achsm.org.au/index.php/achsm/article/view/459covid-19; vietnamese students; mental distress; narrative textual analysis; racism |
| spellingShingle | Ngoc Cindy Pham Juehui Richard Shi A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management covid-19; vietnamese students; mental distress; narrative textual analysis; racism |
| title | A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era |
| title_full | A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era |
| title_fullStr | A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era |
| title_short | A Qualitative Study On Mental Distress Of Vietnamese Students In The U.S.A. In The Covid-19 Era |
| title_sort | qualitative study on mental distress of vietnamese students in the u s a in the covid 19 era |
| topic | covid-19; vietnamese students; mental distress; narrative textual analysis; racism |
| url | https://journal.achsm.org.au/index.php/achsm/article/view/459 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ngoccindypham aqualitativestudyonmentaldistressofvietnamesestudentsintheusainthecovid19era AT juehuirichardshi aqualitativestudyonmentaldistressofvietnamesestudentsintheusainthecovid19era AT ngoccindypham qualitativestudyonmentaldistressofvietnamesestudentsintheusainthecovid19era AT juehuirichardshi qualitativestudyonmentaldistressofvietnamesestudentsintheusainthecovid19era |