The aim of this study was to develop a predictive model using the random forest machine learning method that identifies suicidal ideation in South Korean adolescents. Additionally, this study sought to evaluate its predictive performance, identify the factors that affect such ideation, and propose measures for preventing youth suicide based on the developed model. The analysis employed responses of 54,565 adolescents attending middle and high schools in South Korea to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Preventions’ 2021 youth health behavior survey. The adolescent suicidal ideation prediction model was estimated using 37 predictors that were categorized as being related to mental health, such as feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loneliness, and stress; physical health, such as height, weight, eating habits, and sleep duration; time utilization, such as how much physical activity they get and how much they use smartphones; health-related school education; academic performance; their physical environment; and changes due to COVID-19, such as economic difficulties, depressive symptoms, and physical activity. The results indicated that the relevant factors varied by school level, but emotional factors, such as feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loneliness, anxiety, and depressive symptoms caused by COVID-19 and generalized anxiety disorder, were the most important. This paper proposes educational and counseling intervention plans to prevent adolescent suicide based on the emotional, physical, lifestyle, and academic factors that were shown to affect adolescent suicidal ideation in this study.
This study attempted to determine the mediating effect that empathy had on the relationship between high school students’ insecure attachment type and anger expression. A survey was conducted on 177 students in their second year of high school from three high schools located in Seoul. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and mediation analysis was conducted using SPSS PROCESS macro 4.0. The results of this study are as follows. First, of the insecure attachment types, anxious attachment was statistically significantly positively correlated with both types of anger expression, anger-out and anger-in, and both types of empathy, cognition and emotion, while avoidant attachment was statistically significantly positively correlated with anger-in. Only cognitive ability was statistically significantly positively correlated with anger control. Avoidant attachment was statistically significantly negatively correlated with both cognition and emotion and cognition was statistically significantly negatively correlated with anger expression. Second, cognition statistically significantly mediated the relationship between anxious attachment, anger-out, and anger control, respectively. Cognition only had a statistically significant mediating effect on the relationship between avoidant attachment and anger control. Thus, cognition predicted anger-out and anger control in high school students. This study’s results can be used to develop intervention and counseling programs for high school students who have difficulty expressing anger appropriately. This paper discusses this study’s limitations and suggestions for follow-up research.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether traditional students and adult learners adjusted differently to college life based on their problem-solving competence, self-esteem, and intrinsic motivation. To do so, we conducted latent profile and cross-tabulation analyses. The participants were 215 traditional students and 145 adult learners. The major results were as follows. First, the groups had similar levels of self-esteem but traditional students adjusted better to college life and had greater problem-solving competence than adult learners. Second, adult learners had higher intrinsic motivation levels than traditional students. Third, college life adaptation styles were classified as either high belief-low motivation or low belief-high motivation with most traditional students belonging to the former type and most adult learners belonging to the latter, indicating that traditional students and adult learners have different college life adaptation styles. These results suggests that different support system should be offered to each group.
The present study explored facilitators of and barriers to academic adaptation among master’s students. It was conducted using a focus group interview with 23 participants who had completed their master’s degree programs. Collected data was analyzed using the consensual qualitative research approach. The results indicated that there were 12 categories and 30 subcategories of facilitators and 11 categories and 28 subcategories of barriers. Facilitators included various activities, namely, preparation, goal-setting and execution, managing academic motivation, and interacting with graduate colleagues, including peer cooperation, senior support, and professorial guidance. Further facilitators were academic activities both inside and outside of the laboratory and the external environment and systems. These results highlight the importance of not only effectively managing individual academic tasks but also interpersonal interactions and support to academic adaptation. Barriers to academic adaptation included a lack of experience and capacity, research and writing difficulties, professorial guidance methods and attitudes, limited interaction with colleagues, laboratory culture and systems, and the external environment and systems. In unfamiliar and uncertain graduate programs, the primary challenge is conducting research and writing papers due to a lack of research abilities and experience. Students faced difficulties arising from inadequate professorial guidance and struggles focusing on studies due to various factors. By identifying facilitators and barriers to master’s program academic adaptation, we can develop insights about how to quantitatively investigate graduate school academic adaptation. Furthermore, these findings can be used to enhance the quality of graduate education and develop graduate student support.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether achievement goal orientation, defined as performance approach and avoidance goals, and academic helplessness have a dual mediating effect on the effect of Chinese international students’ fear of failure on academic delay behaviors. To this end, data was collected from 275 Chinese international students enrolled in domestic universities, a structural equation model was established using Mplus 7.0 and SPSS 21.0, and the significance of the indirect effects was analyzed using bootstrapping. The results of this study are as follows. First, the relationships between all variables except for the relationship between performance approach goals and academic helplessness were statistically significant. Second, the dual mediating effect of achievement goal orientation and academic helplessness had a statistically significant effect on the relationship between Chinese international students’ fear of failure and academic delay behaviors. Third, performance approach and avoidance goals both had discriminatory effects on academic helplessness and academic delay behaviors and all indirect paths that did not go through the academic helplessness variable did not have a statistically significant effect on the effect of Chinese international students’ fear of failure on academic delay behaviors. This result confirms that academic helplessness mediated the relationship between Chinese international students’ fear of failure and academic delay behaviors. Based on these results, counseling interventions should be provided in consideration of achievement goal orientation and academic lethargy when Chinese international students experience maladjustment due to academic delay behaviors.
The present study examined the mediating effects of self-criticism and entrapment, defined as internal or external, on the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and chronic procrastination among college students. We examined the differential pathways of each variable. To this end, a survey was conducted among 323 university students and the data was analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 22.0. The results of this study are as follows. First, evaluative concerns perfectionism was positively correlated with self-criticism, internal entrapment, external entrapment, and chronic procrastination. Second, the direct path of evaluative concerns perfectionism to chronic procrastination was statistically significant. Third, the simple mediated pathway of evaluative concerns perfectionism through internal entrapment to chronic procrastination was statistically significant. Fourth, the path from evaluative concerns perfectionism to chronic procrastination via self-criticism was not statistically significant while the dual-mediated path from evaluative concerns perfectionism to chronic procrastination via both self-criticism and internal entrapment was statistically significant. Fifth, the simple mediated pathway of evaluative concerns perfectionism to chronic procrastination through external entrapment and the dual-mediated pathway of evaluative concerns perfectionism to chronic procrastination through self-criticism and external entrapment were not statistically significant. The significance of these findings, this study’s limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed in this paper.
In this study, in order to examine university students’ perceived school attachment types, school attachment perception types were classified using the Q methodology and their characteristics were examined. For this purpose, a Q population was formed by analyzing previous research and the results of in-depth interviews. A Q sample of 40 questions was developed. Then 32 university students were selected as P samples through snowball sampling. In Q sorting, the Q sample was placed according to the level of consent according to participants’ subjective perceptions through forced distribution within an 11-point scale distribution map. This paper describes why the two most and least agreed-upon items were selected. QUANL analysis classified four types of perceived school attachment. Type 1 is characterized by stability, taking the initiative in school life, growth, high academic satisfaction, participation in various school activities, and stable interpersonal relationships. Type 2 is characterized by ambivalence and making efforts to adapt to school life but finding it difficult to accept its limitations, participation in a variety of on- and off-campus activities, and stable interpersonal relationships. Type 3 is characterized by instability, recognition of the school’s strengths, difficulty forming relationships with other students, and making efforts but having difficulty adapting to school life. Type 4 is characterized by awareness and avoidance of the problems of school life, no sense of belonging, emotional distance from school life, and a focus on realistic and tangible outcomes and rewards, such as school costs, grades, and future employment. This paper discusses the characteristics of each school attachment type and considerations they should be given. This study’s results can be used to understand each school attachment type’s characteristics and how to develop support for each.