Page 59 - Never Too Far Away? The Roles of Social Network Sites in Sojourners’ Adjustment

support, international students were more encouraged to interact on Facebook with the host-country networks, both in the short- and in the long-term. However, high frequency of interaction on Facebook with the host-country network decreased perceived social support in the long-term. Lastly, perceived social support was shown to have short-term reciprocal associations with depressive symptoms. This implies that depressed international students were less likely to perceive support, which in turn, made them less likely to use Facebook to reach out to others in the host-country. Facebook interaction with the home-country network had no influence on perceived social support. This study provided initial insights on the short-term and the long-term reciprocal causal structures of types of communication, perceived support, and psychological adjustment among sojourners. We hope that future research can build on the theoretical assumptions and the findings reported in this study, and further decompose the associations of different types of communication, social support, and adjustment in various social contexts.
SNS, Support, and Depression 57