Cultural value conflicts encountered by international students who are living in a different cultural context would negatively influence their psychological and social wellbeing. For example, many African students from Kenyan, Nigerian, and Ghanaian cultures, which emphasise communalism, harmony, collectivism and cooperation, may experience cultural conflicts when interacting with white American students, who tend to value independence and self-reliance in relationships (Markus and Kitayama 1991; Swagler and Ellis 2003). These African international students who treasure a highly communal lifestyle struggle to define themselves in the American individualistic society that tends to disparage dependence on others (Constantine et al. 2005). Such conflicts are highly likely to incur the sense of loneliness and isolation among those international students (Rousseau, Mekki-Berrada, and Moreau 2001). Lin and Yi’s (1997) study draws a similar finding with Asian students in America. Most Asian students feel uncomfortable when they interact with Americans because assertiveness and negotiation are highly valued in American culture, but they are not compatible with some aspects of Asian culture such as deference and non-assertiveness. According to a research conducted by Burchard and Laurence (2011) on female international students and sexual health, it reveals that they have poor sexual health knowledge compared with local students.
生活在不同文化文化环境下的留学生遇到的文化价值冲突会对他们的心理健康和社会生活质量带来负面影响。例如，中国有很多来自肯尼亚、尼日利亚和加纳的非洲留学生，他们非常看重公社主义、和谐、集体主义和合作，所以当他们在与白种美国留学生打交道的时候，就会感受到文化冲突。因为美国人在人际交往中更偏好独立和自力更生(Markus and Kitayama 1991; Swagler and Ellis 2003)。这些高度认同公共生活方式的非洲留学生会极力将自己与美国个人主义式社会保持距离(Constantine el. 2005)。这种文化冲突非常容易造成非洲留学生相对于其它留学生的孤独感和孤立感(Rousseau, Mekki-Berrada, and Moreau 2001)。Lin and Yi’s (1997)对在美国求学的亚洲留学生进行了研究，发现了同样的现象。大多数的亚洲学生在与美国人打交道的时候会感觉不舒服，因为美国文化重视自信和谈判，但是这与亚洲文化的某些方面格格不入，例如顺从和自信不中。根据Burchard and Laurence (2011)对女性留学生和其性健康状况的研究发现，与当地女学生相比，女留学生的性健康知识非常匮乏。
Another factor influencing the degree to which international students adapt to their new socio-cultural environment is deficient intercultural communication competency. According to Hall (1990), “communication constitutes the core of culture and indeed of life itself” (1). Based on a review of literature on intercultural communication, six factors are identified relating to communication competency: language competency, social decentring, knowledge of the host culture, adaptation, communication effectiveness, and social integration (Arthur 2004; Redmond and Bunyi 1993). Due to deficient intercultural communication competency, international students usually feel that it is difficult to communicate effectively with native speakers. They are unfamiliar with communication patterns such as the way people send and receive information, express emotion and influence each other, and they generally know little about the rules and conventions of interpersonal interaction in the new cultural context (Ward, Bochner, and Furnham 2001). Unsuccessful intercultural communication caused by deficient intercultural communication competency exerts a negative effect on these students’ psychological wellbeing. Redmond and Bunyi (1993) examined the relationship between psychological stress and intercultural communication competency among 644 international students attending a university in the United States. They found that two factors of intercultural communication competency – adaptation and social decentering – accounted for 16% of the variance in the amount of stress reported, and communication effectiveness, adaptation, and social integration accounted for 46% of the variance in reported effectiveness in handling stress.
影响留学生适应新社会文化环境的另一因素是缺乏跨文化沟通能力。Hall (1990)认为：“沟通是文化和生活的核心。”(1)在对跨文化沟通进行理论回顾的基础上，可以总结出与沟通能力有关的六个因素：语言能力、去中心化社交能力、对东道国文化的了解、适应能力、沟通有效性和社会融合性(Arthur 2004; Redmond and Bunyi 1993）。由于缺乏跨文化沟通能力，留学生难以与当地人有效沟通，因为留学生不了解当地人的沟通方式，例如：人们如何传达和接收信息、如何表达情绪、如何影响他人；留学生往往对新文化环境中的人际交往规则和惯例也知之甚少(Ward, Bochner and Furnham 2001)。由于缺乏跨文化沟通能力导致的跨文化沟通失败会对留学生的心理健康造成负面影响。Redmond and Bunyi (1993)研究了644位在美国求学的留学生的心理压力和跨文化沟通能力。他们发现，适应能力和去中心化社交能力这两种跨文化沟通能力因素，在感受到社交压力的留学生的影响比重是16%；而沟通有效性、适应能力和社会融合性占留学生有效处理压力比重的46%。