Relationships of Leisure Social Support and Flow with Loneliness in International Students in Taiwan: Implications during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Loneliness that negatively influences well-being in international students is common, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leisure may help international students reduce loneliness. To inform efforts to promote well-being for international students, this study examined whether two types of leisure social support (leisure emotional support and leisure instrumental support) and flow while participating in leisure predict loneliness. In total, 332 international students who attended a private university in Taiwan participated in the study. In-person surveys were used to measure leisure emotional support, leisure instrumental support, flow, and loneliness. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to analyze data. Results indicated that high levels of leisure emotional support and flow predicted low levels of loneliness, but high levels of leisure instrumental support did not. The study addresses implications of these results in terms of reducing loneliness experienced by international students, without depending highly on the presence of others.