Studying in a foreign country is simultaneously thrilling and demanding. What factors, precisely, are responsible for the appeal of this project? To find the main aspects that influence the mental health of international students, I will examine the data provided by a Japanese university. Through data manipulation, I plan to see the patterns and trends that point to the most influential factors in students' mental health. By looking at the factors like academic pressure, social integration, financial stress, and cultural adjustment, I believe that insights into what exactly affects their mental health will be gained. Let's take a deep look into the data, and try to find some answers!
Studying abroad is both exciting and challenging, but what exactly contributes to this experience? To uncover the key factors affecting international students' mental health, I’ll be analyzing data from a study conducted by a Japanese international university. Using data manipulation techniques, I aim to identify patterns and trends that reveal the greatest influences on students' well-being. By exploring variables such as academic pressure, social integration, financial stress, and cultural adjustment, I hope to gain insights into what plays the most significant role in shaping their mental health. Let’s dive into the data and find some answers!
In our analysis, we are focusing on mental health, so let’s start by examining how severe the situation is for students across Japan. Using key metrics such as depression levels (PHQ-9 test), social connectedness (SCS test), and acculturative stress (ASISS test), we can gain a clearer picture of the overall well-being of students.
By analyzing depression scores (todep), we can assess how widespread mental health struggles are. Social connectedness scores (tosc) will help us understand whether students feel isolated or supported, while acculturative stress scores (toas) will shed light on the difficulties international students face when adapting to a new culture.
SELECT
count(inter_dom) as students,
round(avg(todep)::numeric,1)
FROM students
WHERE inter_dom is not NULL
More than half of students are actually experiencing mild or moderate depression, which in turn is alarmingly high. The PHQ-9 score scale version has a 27-point maximum score and the average score of 8.2 indicates mild depression on average, but it also implies a substantial proportion of students are likely to be in the moderate to severe category.
A trend such as this implies that mental health issues are not just due to individual cases but are rather a common frequented problem effecting not only a group but also a bigger weight of the students. Further investigation is necessary to figure out the distribution of each severity category and the features that might explain the high depression rates.
Sorting the students by PHQ-9 depression severity levels will give a clearer picture of how widespread the issue is. With the five PHQ-9 test levels, we can sort the students into percentage ranges:
SQL CODE
SELECT
CASE
WHEN todep >= 20 THEN 'Severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 15 AND 19 THEN 'Moderately severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 10 AND 14 THEN 'Moderate depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 5 AND 9 THEN 'Mild depression'
ELSE 'None or minimal depression'
END AS "Depression Severity",
COUNT(inter_dom)
FROM students
GROUP BY "Depression Severity";
The data reveals a disconcerting pattern: while a majority of students fall in the mild and moderate depression categories, a significant percentage also have moderately severe or severe depression, demonstrating pervasive mental illness. Although there are students who report no or minimal depression, the overall pattern of the data suggests that depression is an overarching issue among the surveyed students, necessitating increased support for mental health on campus.
SQL code
SELECT
CASE
WHEN todep >= 20 THEN 'Severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 15 AND 19 THEN 'Moderately severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 10 AND 14 THEN 'Moderate depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 5 AND 9 THEN 'Mild depression'
ELSE 'None or minimal depression'
END AS "Depression Severity",
COUNT(CASE WHEN inter_dom = 'Dom' THEN 1 END) AS "Dom Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN inter_dom = 'Inter' THEN 1 END) AS "Inter Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN inter_dom NOT IN ('Dom', 'Inter') THEN 1 END) AS "Other Count"
FROM students
GROUP BY 1
Domestic students take up a larger proportion in most of the depression severity levels, with mild depression and moderate depression being more prevalent in them compared to international students. Severe depression and moderately severe depression also have significant representation in domestic students, while international students have smaller representation in severe depression levels. The "None or minimal depression" category also has a significant percentage as "Unknown Count."
The high levels of depression among students might be determined by language, race, and socioeconomic status. Language challenges may pose a problem to international students, resulting in loneliness and academic pressures, while domestic students face expectations from society. Cultural and social adjustment problems are also responsible because international students are usually faced with challenges adapting to new environments, which increase their feelings of loneliness and anxiety. In addition, economic pressure also plays a very important role since foreign students tend to have higher tuition fees and limited job opportunities compared to local students, who even have their own economic pressures. Racial and ethnic backgrounds can also influence mental health, with discrimination and lack of representation in schools contributing towards feelings of isolation. Establishing these relationships can help to inform support mechanisms that cater to the diverse needs of students.
SQL code
SELECT
CASE
WHEN todep >= 20 THEN 'Severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 15 AND 19 THEN 'Moderately severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 10 AND 14 THEN 'Moderate depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 5 AND 9 THEN 'Mild depression'
ELSE 'None or minimal depression'
END AS "Depression Severity",
COUNT(CASE WHEN japanese_cate = 'High' THEN 1 END) AS "Fluent Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN japanese_cate = 'Average' THEN 1 END) AS "Intermediate Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN japanese_cate = 'Low' THEN 1 END) AS "Novice Count"
FROM students
GROUP BY "Depression Severity"
There is no inverse relationship altogether between increased Japanese competence and reduced depression. Both the beginning speakers provide a bimodal experience—with little depression for some but mild to moderate levels of symptoms for others—and the fluent and the intermediate speakers have higher levels of depression. These may be attributed to external stress, conflict with fitting into culture, or elevated self-expectancy. Intermediate speakers fall mid-way between those two groups on the influence scale, rating moderate.
SQL code
SELECT
CASE
WHEN todep >= 20 THEN 'Severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 15 AND 19 THEN 'Moderately severe depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 10 AND 14 THEN 'Moderate depression'
WHEN todep BETWEEN 5 AND 9 THEN 'Mild depression'
ELSE 'None or minimal depression'
END AS "Depression Severity",
COUNT(CASE WHEN english_cate = 'High' THEN 1 END) AS "Fluent Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN english_cate = 'Average' THEN 1 END) AS "Intermediate Count",
COUNT(CASE WHEN english_cate = 'Low' THEN 1 END) AS "Novice Count"
FROM students
GROUP BY "Depression Severity"
English and Japanese fluency share different patterns when the degree of depression is considered. Mild depression is the most frequent in both cases, although English-fluent speakers are more frequent than Japanese-fluent speakers. Moderate depression is relatively evenly distributed according to Japanese fluency levels, but with English, initial speakers observe it at a much higher frequency. No or little depression is more prevalent for novice Japanese speakers, while fluent speakers are higher in this percentage for English. Severe depression is higher in fluent Japanese speakers, but among English speakers, both novice and fluent speakers indicate equal proportions. Higher English ability seems to go along with decreased depression rates overall, but for Japanese, being fluent does not necessarily result in improved mental health.
In general, proficiency in language does not define mental well-being since other psychological and social determinants are likely involved.