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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. Explore the students data using PostgreSQL to find out if this is true and see if the length of stay is a contributing factor.

Here is a data description of the columns you may find helpful.

Field NameDescription
inter_domTypes of students
japanese_cateJapanese language proficiency
english_cateEnglish language proficiency
academicCurrent academic level
ageCurrent age of student
stayCurrent length of stay in years
todepTotal score of depression (PHQ-9 test)
toscTotal score of social connectedness (SCS test)
toasTotal score of Acculturative Stress (ASISS test)

exploring the dataset

checking the fields and how the dataset is divided across student type categories

import pandas as pd
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DataFrameas
df
variable
SELECT * 
FROM students 
LIMIT 5
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DataFrameas
df
variable
SELECT inter_dom , COUNT(*)
FROM students
GROUP BY 1;

Answering analysis questions

  1. how did international students performed on these mental health tests compared to domestic students
  2. how did the mental health of international students changed over time
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DataFrameas
df
variable
SELECT  inter_dom, 
        ROUND(AVG(todep), 2) AS average_phq, 
        ROUND(AVG(tosc), 2) AS average_scs,
        ROUND(AVG(toas), 2) AS average_as
FROM students
WHERE stay IS NOT NULL AND inter_dom IN ( 'Inter', 'Dom') 
GROUP BY 1
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DataFrameas
students
variable
SELECT  stay, 
        ROUND(AVG(todep), 2) AS average_phq, 
        ROUND(AVG(tosc), 2) AS average_scs,
        ROUND(AVG(toas), 2) AS average_as
FROM students
WHERE stay IS NOT NULL AND inter_dom ='Inter'
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1 DESC;
students.plot(x='stay')

REPORT

  • On average, domestic students have a slightly higher depression score than international students
  • On average international students have about 20% higher level of Acculturative Stress
  • Both student type have about thesame level of social connectedness on average
  • Out of the 3 test explored for international students, only the depression test showed a significant increase as the number of years increased, especially after the 7th year. Scs and As tests on the other hand showed a drop in level as the years went by, especially after the 7th year