Case Study: Does Studying Abroad Affect Mental Health?
(Analysis in Progress)
OUTLINE
- INTRODUCTION
- HYPOTHESIS
- METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS PLAN
- DATA SOURCES & COLLECTION
- MENTAL HEALTH SCORES DEFINITIONS
- DATA PREPROCESSING AND CLEANING
- ANALYSIS
- CONCLUSION
- RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Introduction
Does going to university in a different country affect your mental health? A Japanese international university surveyed its students in 2018 and published a study the following year that was approved by several ethical and regulatory boards.
The study found that international students have a higher risk of mental health difficulties than the general population, and that social connectedness (belonging to a social group) and acculturative stress (stress associated with joining a new culture) are predictive of depression.
Explore the students data using PostgreSQL to find out if you would come to a similar conclusion for international students and see if the length of stay is a contributing factor.
Here is a data description of the columns you may find helpful.
| Field Name | Description |
|---|---|
inter_dom | Types of students (international or domestic) |
japanese_cate | Japanese language proficiency |
english_cate | English language proficiency |
academic | Current academic level (undergraduate or graduate) |
age | Current age of student |
stay | Current length of stay in years |
todep | Total score of depression (PHQ-9 test) |
tosc | Total score of social connectedness (SCS test) |
toas | Total score of acculturative stress (ASISS test) |
2. Hypotheses
- Hypothesis 1: International students have a higher risk of depression than domestic students.
- Hypothesis 2: Social connectedness negatively correlates with depression.
- Hypothesis 3: Acculturative stress positively correlates with depression.
- Hypothesis 4: The length of stay influences depression levels.
3. Methodology and Analysis Plan
Methodology
Study Design
This analysis examines the mental health of international students using the students dataset in PostgreSQL. The study aims to determine if international students face higher mental health difficulties and whether social connectedness, acculturative stress, and length of stay influence depression levels.
Data Preprocessing and Cleaning
To ensure data quality before analysis, the following steps will be performed:
- Data Inspection
- Data Cleaning
- Data Transformation
Analysis Plan
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)
The first step in analysis is to explore the dataset to understand trends and distributions. This includes:
- Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode) for numerical variables.
- Frequency distributions of categorical variables.
- Data visualizations such as bar charts and line graphs
4. Data Sources & Collection
This survey was conducted in 2018 at an international Japanese university and the associated study was published in 2019. It was approved by several ethical and regulatory boards.
The study found that international students have a higher risk of mental health difficulties compared to the general population, and that social connectedness and acculturative stress are predictive of depression.
Social connectedness: measure of belonging to a social group or network.
Acculturative stress: stress associated with learning about and intergrating into a new culture.
Our data is in one table that includes all of the survey data. There are 50 fields and, according to the paper, 268 records. Each row is a student.
See paper for more info, including data description.
Original data table will be available as 'students' or 'students.csv'
-- Run this code to save the CSV file as students
SELECT *
FROM 'students.csv';5. Mental Health Scores Definitions
The tests are psychological and social assessment tools used to evaluate different aspects of individuals' mental health and social integration. Here’s a brief overview of each:
Depression (PHQ-9 Test)
- Name: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
- Purpose: A self-administered diagnostic tool for common mental disorders, specifically used to screen, diagnose, monitor, and measure the severity of depression.
- Structure: Consists of 9 items, each relating to a symptom of depression. Respondents rate how often they have been bothered by each symptom over the past two weeks on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day).
- Scoring: Scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depression. Cut-off points at 5, 10, 15, and 20 are used to classify depression as mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe, respectively.
Social Connectedness (SCS Test)
- Name: Social Connectedness Scale (SCS)
- Purpose: Measures the degree to which individuals feel connected to others. It is an indicator of how individuals perceive their social bonds and relationships.
- Structure: Typically consists of items that respondents rate on a Likert scale, assessing feelings of belonging, relationship with others, and social integration.
- Scoring: While specific scoring can vary based on the version of the scale and the research context, generally, higher scores indicate greater perceived social connectedness.
Acculturative Stress (ASISS Test)
- Name: Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS)
- Purpose: Specifically designed to assess the acculturative stress experienced by international students adjusting to studying in a foreign country. It captures the challenges related to cultural adjustment, language barriers, educational and social stress, perceived discrimination, and homesickness.
- Structure: Includes a series of statements about experiences commonly faced by international students, with respondents rating the frequency or intensity of these experiences.
- Scoring: Similar to other scales, higher scores indicate greater levels of acculturative stress, with specific interpretations depending on the study's context and the population being assessed.
These tests are widely used in psychological research and clinical settings to assess and understand various dimensions of mental health and social wellbeing. They serve as crucial tools for identifying individuals who may benefit from further psychological support or interventions aimed at improving their mental health and social connections.
6. Data Preprocessing and Cleaning
Data Inspection
- Inspect the dataset to understand its structure.
- Reason: To get an overview of the available information.
- Result: Verified that all required columns and values are present and understandable.
- Plan: Conduct a deeper inspection of the students table.
-- Explore the data in the table
SELECT *
FROM 'students.csv'
LIMIT 5;- Verify the number of records/rows
- Reason: The paper states there should be 268 rows.
- Result: I found 286 rows instead of 268, indicating either a typo in the paper or extra rows that may need to be removed.
- Plan: Investigate these extra rows further.