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) |
-- Run this code to view the data in students
SELECT *
FROM students;-- Cleaning the data with NULL Values
SELECT
inter_dom,
region,
gender,
academic,
age,
age_cate,
stay,
stay_cate,
japanese,
japanese_cate,
english,
english_cate,
intimate,
religion,
suicide,
dep
FROM students
WHERE inter_dom IS NOT NULL
AND region IS NOT NULL
AND gender IS NOT NULL
AND academic IS NOT NULL
AND age IS NOT NULL
AND age_cate IS NOT NULL
AND stay IS NOT NULL
AND stay_cate IS NOT NULL
AND japanese IS NOT NULL
AND japanese_cate IS NOT NULL
AND english IS NOT NULL
AND english_cate IS NOT NULL
AND intimate <> '' -- intimate have some empty so we use '<>'
AND religion IS NOT NULL
AND suicide IS NOT NULL
AND dep IS NOT NULL
;
-- Calculate average depression score based on suicide consideration
SELECT
inter_dom,
stay_cate,
stay,
gender,
academic,
japanese_cate,
english_cate,
AVG(CASE
WHEN suicide = 'Yes' THEN 1
WHEN suicide = 'No' THEN 0
ELSE NULL -- Exclude nulls from average calculation
END) AS average_depression_score,
avg(case
when intimate = 'Yes' Then 1
When intimate = 'No' Then 0
Else Null
End) as avg_social_connectedness,
AVG(stay) AS avg_len_of_stay,
AVG(CASE
WHEN japanese_cate = 'High' THEN 3
WHEN japanese_cate = 'Average' THEN 2
WHEN japanese_cate = 'Low' THEN 1
ELSE NULL -- Exclude NULLs from average calculation
END) AS average_japanese_proficiency,
AVG(CASE
WHEN english_cate = 'High' THEN 3
WHEN english_cate = 'Average' THEN 2
WHEN english_cate = 'Low' THEN 1
ELSE NULL -- Exclude NULLs from average calculationIS NOT NULL THEN english_cate
END) AS average_english_proficiency
FROM
students
Where inter_dom IS NOT NULL
AND stay_cate IS NOT NULL
AND region IS NOT NULL
AND gender IS NOT NULL
AND academic IS NOT NULL
AND japanese_cate IS NOT NULL
AND english_cate IS NOT NULL
AND stay IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY inter_dom, gender, academic, stay_cate, japanese_cate,
english_cate, stay
ORDER BY inter_dom, gender, academic, stay_cate, japanese_cate,
english_cate;Depression Scores vs. Social Connectedness
Depression Scores vs. Length of Stay
Japanese Language Proficiency vs. Depression Scores
English Language Proficiency vs. Depression Scores
Analysis & Findings
The query results offer valuable insights into several key areas of student mental health:
-
Depression Scores: A comparative analysis of average depression scores between international and domestic students, taking into account additional demographic factors, reveals variations in mental health risk.
-
Social Connectedness: Examines students’ average social connectedness scores to assess its relationship with depression levels, providing a clearer view of its impact on mental health.
-
Length of Stay: Investigates how varying lengths of stay affect mental health, particularly in terms of depression and acculturative stress, to identify patterns related to adjustment periods.
-
Language Proficiency: Analyzes the influence of Japanese and English language proficiency on mental health outcomes, considering how language skills may mitigate or heighten mental health challenges.
Conclusion
This analysis provides stakeholders with a nuanced understanding of mental health challenges among international students, identifying critical focus areas for targeted interventions. The insights gained can guide the development of support systems that promote the well-being and integration of international students, fostering a healthier university experience.