4.2 Statement of Authorship
4.3.6 Summary
4.3.7.1 Implications of factors associated with type of residence, and outcomes
Analysis of the combined data of international, RRR, and participants from
undisclosed home locations found that perceived available social support, domestic support, greeting network, and oral English use were most strongly correlated with type of residence.
Since any effect of the use of oral English in residences was salient for international participants only, such data were investigated separately and will be discussed first.
Use of oral English was lower in flats/houses and “villages” than in colleges. More
111 international participants resided in flats/houses and “villages” than did RRR participants.
Correlational results indicated that international participants residing in “villages” and colleges used English more often than those residing in flats/houses. There was, however, no indication that residential English use affected pass rate, intention to persist, or psychological distress. The result confirmed that of a systematic review showing that international students’
use of conversational English had no effect on academic achievement (Andrade, 2006), but did affect sociocultural adjustment (Andrade, 2006). Andrade (2006) suggested that
friendships with host-nation students also have a positive effect on adjustment, although may be difficult to form. An implication of the finding is that students desiring to develop oral English skills should be advised that type of residence will affect opportunities to do so.
International students have typically reported more loneliness, homesickness, anxiety, stress, and less social support than host-nation students (Andrade, 2006). International participants in the current study did not report more psychological distress than did RRR participants. Relocating for tertiary education seems to have affected both groups similarly.
However, international participants reported less perceived available social support than did RRR participants. Type of residence could be a partial explanation for the finding, since few international participants (n = 6, 15.4%) resided in colleges.
An investigation of perceived available social support across types of residence found that participants residing in flats/houses (capacity 1 - 10) and “villages” (capacity 400 - 500) perceived similar levels of available social support. However, participants residing in colleges/hall (capacity 185 - 240) perceived significantly more available social support.
The finding confirmed that of Suiter (2014), namely, the greater capacity of a hall of residence compared with smaller halls, does not predict students’ perception of greater available social support. The finding has implications for both international and RRR first- year students, their families, and accommodation counsellors.
Significant differences between colleges and other types of residence were also found for domestic support and greeting network. Social support, domestic support, and greeting
112 network comprised Model 1 to determine associations with pass rate, intention to persist, and psychological distress. Model 1 showed moderate associations with pass rate and
psychological distress but none with intention to persist.
The greatest unique contributor to the variance in pass rate was greeting network. The mean pass rate of participants with a small greeting network of co-residents (1 - 10) was somewhat higher (96.95%) than that of participants with a larger (10 +) greeting network (93.42%).
Acknowledgement between persons is related to belonging and a sense of community (Wesselmann et al., 2012). Belonging was a sub-scale of perceived available social support.
Low sense of community and social support predict psychological distress (Suitor, 2014).
However, the moderate inverse effect of greeting network on pass rate was unexpected.
Since a search revealed no studies using greeting network, the finding warrants further investigation. It would be useful, for example, to differentiate any associations with type of residence, personality, or prioritising mutual belonging support over academic success particularly in the first year at university following relocation.
Perceived available social support was the second unique contributor to pass rate. It showed a small positive association consistent with findings of the meta-analysis by
Richardson et al. (2012). Domestic support had an insignificant small association.
Perceived available social support contributed close to all of the association of Model 1 with psychological distress. The unique moderate contribution was such that as perceived available social support increased, psychological distress decreased.
First-year students typically report stress associated with meeting the demands of university academic requirements. Those also coping with their first year of living away from home, however, may also experience homesickness, loneliness, and loss (Sun et al., 2016). Such symptoms of psychological strain are exacerbated by distance from home and well documented among international students, as is diminished social support (Patron 2014). As demonstrated and recommended by the report of the Coroners Court of Victoria,
113 measures to assist international students maintain mental health are necessary. An implication of the finding is that implementing measures which encourage access to mental health
professionals might be necessary but not sufficient in the absence of opportunities to develop supportive peer relationships. In addition, there appears to be little investigation of similar effects among RRR students who may be hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres, from a home with a distinct climate and cultural characteristics.
Domestic support is an under-recognised variable in the lives of relocated, first-year university students. Many first-year students work as well as study, although it is considered inadvisable to do so and international students are subject to a restriction on hours worked per fortnight. How such students in residences with no domestic support manage time between study, domestic tasks, and employment has not been fully explored, neither has the effect of different work-load combinations on academic success and mental health. Furthermore, there are additional nutritional, health, and time-management factors to be considered (Bruening et al., 2016; Cady, 2014) in the provision of meals. Meals provided in Adelaide’s colleges and hall are prepared on-site and served in dining halls. Such provisions may also facilitate a sense of community and belonging (Dunbar, 2017).