The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced

by East Asian International Students

Matthew Cheatham, Heather Corley, Sara Greicius, Megan Lorincz, Anya Work
Introduction
What is the stated purpose of the study? Does the literature review provide a context, background, and
direction?

● This study investigates the effects of acculturative stress, GPA satisfaction, and maladaptive
perfectionism on East Asian international students’ susceptibility to depression. The literature
review adequately provides background information on the student population and the reasons
these students are more likely to suffer from depression while studying away from home. The
direction of the study is also clearly stated early on in the article.

Does it support the need for the study? Is the review adequate; if not, what seems to be missing?

● This article supports the need for the study in its discussion of previous research and the need to
expand on it. In particular, the article references studies from the past two decades that reveal
East Asian international students’ propensity to become depressed. The review is adequate and
well-organized into three sections: effects of acculturative stress, effects of perfectionism, and
effects of acculturative stress and perfectionism.
Is a theoretical framework presented? Is it appropriate? What are the research questions, hypotheses, and
objectives?

● No framework is explicitly stated throughout the study. However, the research implies that the
theoretical framework used is related to theories around international student development.
● The research question is presented as a purpose statement: Investigate the effects of acculturative
stress and perfectionism on East Asian students’ susceptibility to depression
● Three hypotheses:
○ That depression among East Asian international students can be predicted by a
combination of maladaptive perfectionism, GPA satisfaction, and acculturative stress
○ That East Asian international students will report higher levels of maladaptive
perfectionism and depression than will domestic students
○ That positive relationships will be observed between maladaptive perfectionism and
depression and a negative relationship will be observed between GPA satisfaction and
maladaptive perfectionism

Is there a connection between the literature review and the research questions, hypotheses, and
objectives?

● There is a solid connection among the literature review, research topic, and hypothesis. The
literature review thoroughly discusses effects of acculturative stress and perfectionism, which is
the topic of the study. Moreover, the three hypotheses revolve around these topics, as well.
Research Design
Is the study descriptive, correlational? Longitudinal? Cross Sectional? Qualitative? Quantitative?
● Quantitative Study
○ Looks at generalizing data from this sample for the East Asian International Students at
this institution.
● Correlational Study
○ Looks at the relationship between acculturative stress and perfectionism with students
having depression.
The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced
by East Asian International Students
Matthew Cheatham, Heather Corley, Sara Greicius, Megan Lorincz, Anya Work
How well is this design suited to the research question or hypothesis? Are there threats to the internal
validity of the research design?
● Threats to internal validity
○ Random error
■ Could not control outside factors that could have affected the results of the
survey.
○ Selection
■ Could not control who would complete the survey.
○ Attrition
■ Could not control if people started survey but did not complete it for unknown
reasons.

Is this an evaluation study? If so, was the model used appropriately?

● No, it is a study that is trying to analyze if a hypothesis based on literature is true for the sample.

Sampling
Describe the characteristics of the population studied.
● 52 East Asian international students; 126 domestic students
○ Both East Asian international students and domestic students were chosen to participate
in this study as a way to compare the target population of the study, East Asian
international students, with domestic students, who may not experience the same
pressures.
● 28.1% men, 71.9% women
● 77.7% undergraduate students, 2.2% were graduate students, 10.1% pre-university English
language students, and 10.1% did not specify their status
○ Undergraduate students: 20.1% freshmen, 20.1% sophomores, 25.9% juniors, 28.8%
seniors, and 5.0% 5th-year or higher students
○ Participants were 18 to 46 years of age
○ 75.4% Christian, 9.5% nonreligious, 5.6% Buddhist, 0.6% Muslim, 1.1% affiliated with
another religion, and 7.8% did not specify their religious belief

Identify sampling procedures (e.g., simple random sampling), and explain why it was selected. Indicate
the size of the sample.
● 256 students were contacted for participation
● The researchers could have given more details about their sampling procedure, as we’re not sure
if their procedures could have influenced internal/external validity. It also would have been
helpful for future researchers who may be interested in designing a similar study.
● Participants were informed through Facebook, an online university bulletin, university e-mail,
and hard-copy poster
What was the response/participation rate? How did those who responded or participated differ from those
who did not? How was this addressed?
● 69.5% response rate

Measures
The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced
by East Asian International Students
Matthew Cheatham, Heather Corley, Sara Greicius, Megan Lorincz, Anya Work
What measures were utilized? Were the variables operationalized as needed?
● Almost Perfect Scale Revised (APS-R)
○ Measures perfectionism
■ High Standards, Order, Discrepancy
○ 31 items using 7-point Likert scale (1 - strongly disagree, 7 - strongly agree)
■ Higher scores is equal to greater discrepancy
● Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
○ Measures current levels of depression
○ 20 items rated on 4-point Likert scale (0 - rarely or none of the time, 3 - most or all of the
time)
■ Reflects the frequency with which participants have experienced the item during
the preceding week
● Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS)
○ Measures acculturative stress
○ Perceived discrimination, Homesickness, Perceived hate, Fear, Culture shock/stress
because of change, Guilt, Nonspecific concerns
■ 36 items on 5-point Likert scale (1 - strongly disagree, 5 - strongly agree
● Higher score indicates greater acculturative stress
● Questionnaire
○ Measure participants’ GPA, their expected GPA, and their satisfaction with their GPA
○ 5 point Likert scale (1 - very dissatisfied, 5 - very satisfied)

What instruments were used? How were they developed? What did they measure?
● Survey Monkey that incorporated the four measures
Were any standardized instruments used?
● The measures were prepared by previous institutions, but the survey monkey was not previously
used before so that is not standardized
Were the instruments valid, reliable, and appropriate?
● Validity
○ Actually studies and measures what the research question is asking for
● Reliability
○ All coefficient alphas fall within 0.8 and 0.95 except for Academic Questionnaire

Data Analysis Procedures

What kind of data analysis was conducted? If quantitative describe what statistical analysis was
conducted?
● Researchers entered discrepancy, GPA satisfaction, and acculturative stress scores into a multiple
regression analysis with depression levels as the dependent measures.

Do you think the conclusions are valid and reliable?

● Cannot generalize because the difference in size of the institution and domestic students versus
international students.

How satisfied are you with the internal validity of the conclusions?
The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced
by East Asian International Students
Matthew Cheatham, Heather Corley, Sara Greicius, Megan Lorincz, Anya Work
● Yes, the internal validity is satisfactory, but the uneven number of domestic and international
students was a threat to external validity.

Was the information presented in the figures and tables clear and was it discussed in the text?
● Yes.

Findings
What were the study findings? Were they discussed and described clearly and accurately? Were
explanations proposed for any anticipated and unanticipated findings? Were the results substantively
important? Were conclusions well grounded in the findings?
● Findings:
○ Conclusions: confirmed the hypotheses that depression in East Asian International
students is related to perfectionism and that there is a positive relationship between
maladaptive perfectionism and depression as well as a negative relationship between
GPA satisfaction and discrepancy
○ Inconsistent with expectations:
■ Levels of discrepancy nor levels of depression were higher among East Asian
international students than among domestic students
■ Discrepancy is not culturally dependent
Was any light shed on the theoretical framework used?
● No
Are there any questions you feel were not addressed or addressed adequately?
● No
Was the study conducted in an objective fashion? Is there any evidence of bias? Are there limitations to
the generalizability (i.e., external validity) of the findings?
● Study done at a small institution, so it may be applied to institutions of a similar size, not larger
schools
● Uneven sample size between East Asian International students and North American students
Ethics and Human Subjects Review
Did the study seem consistent with current ethical standards? Did it pose any threats to research
participants? Were any steps taken to minimize these threats?
● An IRB was approved by Trinity Western University.

How was cooperation of research participants obtained? Was there informed consent?
● No information provided about informed consent.

Do you consider this a “good” study?

● Follows procedure and addressed threats to external validity.