Table 1.

Description of study characteristics in the meta-analysis (n-8).

Study Name	Publication Date	Country	Sample Age and Gender	n	Instruments Used	Outcome
Lashari, et al.	2018	Malaysia	Gender ratio m:fm (55:45); Mean age = NA; SD age = 7.07	200 from 3 state university in Malaysia	Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) α = 0.94 Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) α = 0.93	Acculturation stress was negatively related to social support (r = −0.64, p < 0.001)
Sullivan, et al.	2015	US	gender ratio m:fm (37.5:61.5); Mean Age = 25.43; SD Age = 5.23	104 from various countries studying in medium street public urban Univ. Midwest US	Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) α = 0.94 Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS) α = 0.96	Social support from host nationals was negatively related with reported level of acculturative stress (r = −0.35, p < 0.01)
Zhang, et al.	2018	US	Mean age = 23; SD age = 2.8	137, Chinese international student di Northeastern US University	Acculturative Stress Scale for Chinese Students (ASSCS) α = 0.94 The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) α = 0.91	Perceived social support from family was positively associated with students’ homesickness (r = 0.19, p < 0.01), perceived social support from friends was negatively associated with students’ perceived discrimination (r = −0.17, p < 0.05), perceived social support from school was negatively associated with students’ perceived discrimination (r = −0.23, p < 0.01), fearfulness (r = −0.20, p < 0.01), stress due to change (r = −0.15, p < 0.05) and guilt (r = −0.21, p < 0.01) – mean of school support = −0.19.
Ladum, et al.	2019	Ciprus	Mean age = 22.20, SD Age = 2.41	271 undergraduate students from 25 countries studying in English-medium programs at a university in the northern part of Cyprus.	Acculturative stress was measured using the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) [47]. α = 0.94. The Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS) Scale α = 0.87	Students with less social support experienced more acculturative stress (r = −0.18, p = 0.017)
Ra, et al.	2014	US	Mean Age = 24.48 SD Age = 4.53	232 East Asian international students from China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan who were registered in U.S. higher education institutions from 23 states across the United States	Index of Life Stress (ILS) α = 0.89 Index of Social Support (ISS) α = 0.94	Social support was significantly and negatively related with the outcome variable with a correlation of −0.336 (p < 0.0005). The correlations between acculturative stress and the three subscales of social support were −0.243 (p < 0.0005) for family dan old friend, −0.280 (p < 0.0005) for new friend in the US and −0.249 for universities and colleges.
Sullivan, et al.	2010	US	Gender ratio m:fm (52:48); mean age = 25.06; SD age = 5.069	100	Index of sojourners social support/ ISSS (reliabilities α each subscale: 0.95 home; 0.95 other international students; 0.94 host). Modifiying index of life stress test re-test r = 0.87; KR 20 = 0.86	Acculturative stress found to be negatively correlated with all three sources of social support: home (r = −0.15, p = 0.00), other international students (r = −0.18, p = 0.00) and host (r = −0.34, p = 0.00).
Bai, et al.	2016	US	NA	152	Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) α = 0.949 Perceived Support from School. α = 0.789	Perceived support from school was significantly correlated with acculturative stress (r = −0.623)
Kim, et al.	2016	Korea	Gender ratio m:fm (92:180); mean age = 25.74; SD age = 2.68	272; Academic degree Undergraduate = 39, Masters student = 174, Doctorate student = 59, Length of Stay in Korea (months) 6–12 = 26, months 13–36 =108, months 37–60= 85, months > 61 = 53, Residence Dormitory = 98, Home stay = 132, Lease = 9, Others = 33	Interpersonal Support Evaluation List [53] (Cohen, S., & Hoberman, H. (1983) α = 0.83. Acculturative Stress Scale for international students [54] (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994) α = 0.84	Acculturative stress showed negative correlation with social support (r = −0.13)

Note: NA (not available); n (total participants); r (coefficient correlation); p (significant value).