Psychosocial factors and mental health among undergraduate expatriate students in the UAE: a moderated mediation model

This conceptual article suggests a moderated mediation model that will be used to explore how psychosocial variables influence the positive mental health of undergraduate expatriate students in the United Arab Emirates. The article does not provide any empirical data, findings based on samples, or statistical testing, but instead theoretically builds a model for future research. The article, which focuses on the lack of conceptual consideration of expatriate student mental health in the context of Middle East higher education, draws together the theories of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The proposed framework suggests that psychological resilience may act as a mediator between sociocultural adaptation, psychological adjustment, perceived social support, and positive mental health. Self-efficacy as a belief-based personal resource is suggested as a potential moderator between psychosocial factors and resilient coping; that is, when students believe that they have the ability to cope with academic and social demands, they have the potential to transform the psychosocial resources into resilient coping. The article also points to the applicability of this construct in the UAE's multicultural higher education context and to other education issues of a general nature related to student wellbeing. The article offers a conceptual framework for future empirical studies that will be longitudinal, across levels and across cultures, and will clarify possible relationships between psychosocial resources, resilience, self-efficacy, and positive mental health. Moreover, it has implications for universities to create culturally responsive support structures for expatriate undergraduate students.