Identifying and comparing daily stress experiences,physical and psychological health, and coping strategies among Asian and American graduate students

The present study was designed to describe and compare, by racial-ethnic group and gender, (a) variables: daily stress experiences (hassles), physical and psychological health, and coping strategies; and (b) relationships between the above variables. Using a mail questionnaire procedure, a random sample of 183 international Asian and 160 Caucasian-American graduate students at The Ohio State University responded to a survey. It consisted of demographic questions and four instruments: Asian and American Graduate Students (AAGS) Hassles Scale, Physical Symptoms Scale, Psychological Symptoms Scale (the Hopkins Symptom Checklist), and Coping Strategies Scale. Because no hassles scale for cross-cultural comparison had been established, the AAGS-Hassles scale was newly developed. Close attention was paid to establishing reliability and validity. Factor analyses identified eight areas of hassles among these students. This new scale enabled description of, and comparison between, Asians' hassles and Caucasians' hassles. Significant correlations between hassles, physical health, and psychological health found in this study reaffirm the applicability of the daily stress model for both Asians and Caucasians. The survey also confirmed hassles as significant predictors of health status; hassles related to everyday life were more significant than school-related hassles, regardless of ethnicity. These findings suggest the need for managing daily hassles in promoting health for both Asians and Caucasians. Also, there were significant racial-ethnic and gender variations. While total scale scores showed gender variations only, sub-scale scores revealed a number of racial-ethnic and gender variations in hassles, health and coping strategies. An Asian somatization tendency was demonstrated in hassle-symptom relationships. Caucasian students had more psychological symptoms than Asian students across different levels of hassles. While Asian and Caucasian students reported similar levels of physical symptoms among low-hassles groups, Asian students reported more physical symptoms than Caucasian students among high-hassles groups. Since race and gender play important roles in affecting perceived levels of hassles, health status and preference of coping strategies, it is necessary to take gender and racial variations into consideration when developing health promotion programs. A holistic/ wellness model of health should be applied also since physical and psychological health, coping strategies and various kinds of hassles are closely related.