Targeting Interventions: Moderators of the Effects of Expressive Writing and Assertiveness Training on the Adjustment of International University Students

Acculturative stress is a common experience for international students and is associated with psychological and physical problems. In a previous study (Tavakoli et al. Journal of Counseling Psychology 56:590-596, 2009), the authors reported that two stress reduction interventions—expressive writing (EW) and assertiveness training (AT)—had limited overall benefits among international students at an American University. The current analyses of data from that study investigated whether individual differences moderated the effects of EW and AT. Results indicate that greater acculturative stress at baseline predicted greater improvement from both interventions. Additionally, women benefited more from AT than EW, except that EW improved women’s physical symptoms. Men benefited more from EW than AT. Students with limited emotional awareness and expression tended to benefit from both interventions. Finally, nation of origin cultural differences generally did not predict outcomes. It is concluded that the benefits of EW and AT can be enhanced by targeting these interventions to specific subgroups of international students.