Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32130180›Full record

ArticleJMIR research protocols2020

Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention in Reducing New International Postgraduates' Acculturative Stress in Malaysian Public Universities: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Musheer Abdulwahid Al-Jaberi, Muhamad Hanafiah Juni, Hayati Kadir Shahar, Siti Irma Fadhilah Ismail, Murad Abdu Saeed, Lim Poh Ying

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR research protocols, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Musheer Abdulwahid Al-Jaberi *Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6533-7868
Muhamad Hanafiah JuniDepartment of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6419-8341
Hayati Kadir Shahar *Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7841-5957
Siti Irma Fadhilah Ismail *Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8523-1275
Murad Abdu SaeedEnglish Department, Onaizah College of Sciences and Arts, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2933-7929
Lim Poh YingDepartment of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7765-4630
Universiti Putra Malaysia · MYQassim University · SA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUniversities around the world, including Malaysia, have attracted many international students from different countries. Research has reported that acculturative stress resulting from international students' attempts to adjust to the cultures of host countries is one of the most challenging issues that affects their lives in general and academic lives in particular.

objectiveThis study aims to examine the effectiveness of an educational intervention on acculturative stress among new postgraduate international students joining Malaysian public universities.

methodsA cluster randomized controlled trial design with Malaysian public universities as the unit of randomization will be used in this study. Public universities will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to be either in the intervention (educational program) or control group (waiting list). Participants in the intervention group will receive 7 sessions in 9 hours delivered by an expert in psychology and the researcher. The control group will receive the intervention once the 3-month follow-up evaluation is completed.

resultsThe data will be analyzed using the generalized estimation equation with a confidence interval value of 95%; significant differences between and within groups are determined as P<.05. The results of the study underlie the effectiveness of educational program in decreasing acculturative stress of new international students and enabling them to cope with a new environment. The results of this study will contribute to previous knowledge of acculturative stress, acculturation, and adjustment of international students. Furthermore, such results are expected to play a role in raising university policy makers' awareness of their postgraduate international students' acculturative stress issues and how they can help them avoid such stress and perform well in their academic life.

conclusionsWe expect that the intervention group will score significantly lower than the wait-list group on the immediate and 3-month postintervention evaluation of acculturative stress and achieve a higher level of adjustment. Results will have implications for international students, policy makers at universities, the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, and future research.

trial registrationClinical Trials Registry India CTRI/2018/01/011223; http://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/showallp.php?mid1= 21978&amp;EncHid=&amp;userName=Muhamad%20Hanafiah%20Juni. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/12950.

Indexed as

acculturationacculturative stressadjustmentclusterinternational studentsprotocolrandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID32130180
PMCPMC7068465
OpenAlexW2982027663

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.