Self-concealment, social self-efficacy, acculturative stress, and depression in African, Asian, and Latin American international college students.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this exploratory investigation was to examine self-concealment behaviors and social self-efficacy skills as potential mediators in the relationship between acculturative stress and depression in a sample of 320 African, Asian, and Latin American international college students. The authors found several differences by demography with regard to the study's variables. After controlling for regional group membership, sex, and English language fluency, they found that self-concealment and social self-efficacy did not serve as mediators in the relationship between African, Asian, and Latin American international students' acculturative stress experiences and depressive symptomatology. Implications of the findings are discussed.