Adolescents' Identity Development Predicts the Transition and the Adjustment to Tertiary Education or Work.

Although identity development is crucial in individuals' psychological adjustment from adolescence to adulthood, little is known about its impact in the transition to tertiary education or work. This study examined whether identity development during high school predicts career choices and adjustment (i.e., engagement) and maladjustment (i.e., burnout) after graduation. A total of 357 Japanese adolescents participated throughout the 3-year period of vocational high school (Mage = 15.75; 62.75% girls). A follow-up assessment, at 18 months after the school-to-tertiary education or school-to-work transitions, was conducted. Higher identity synthesis during high school years predicted entry into tertiary education, while higher identity confusion predicted transition to work. Furthermore, higher identity synthesis during the high school years predicted higher post-graduation academic engagement, and higher levels of identity confusion predicted higher levels of post-graduation academic or work burnout. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of the role of identity development in adolescence as a valuable asset for predicting the transition and the adjustment to tertiary education or work.

The Mediating Roles of Future Work Self and Hope on the Association Between Perceived Social Support and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Vocational School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Depressive symptoms are serious mental health problems, which are harmful for adolescents' physical and psychological development. Limited studies have focused on depressive symptoms of vocational high school students, who are more susceptible to mental health problems than high school students. Based on the main effect model of social support and self-regulation theory, the current study aims at exploring two potential mediating roles of hope and future work self on the relationship between perceived social support and depressive symptoms among vocational high school students by a cross-sectional study. Participants and Methods: A total of 521 vocational high school students aged 14-21 (M= 16.45; SD= 0.91) participated in the survey. There were 266 males (51.1%) and 255 females (48.9%). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support, the future work self scale, the children's hope scale, and the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale were applied in the study. Results: The results revealed that: (1) perceived social support, future work self, and hope were negatively related to depressive symptoms (r = -0.25 to -0.35, p < 0.001); (2) students who perceived more social support have fewer depressive symptoms (ß = -0.22, p < 0.001); (3) perceived social support predicted a more salient future work self and then was associated with higher levels of hope, which in turn, was related to lower levels of depressive symptoms (ß = -0.02, and 95% CI = [-0.035, -0.005]). Conclusion: Perceived social support was the protective factor against vocational school students' depressive symptoms. More specifically, stronger perceived social support predicted a more salient future work self, which promoted high level of hope, and ultimately decreased vocational school students' depressive symptoms. The findings provide enlighten implications for interventions on depressive symptoms among vocational high school students.

Exploring the associations between behavioral health risk factors, abnormal eating attitudes and socio-demographic factors among Chinese youth: Survey of 7,984 vocational high school students in Hunan in 2020.

Background: This study investigated the associations between behavioral health risk factors (anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, drinking, smoking) and abnormal eating attitudes among Chinese vocational high school students (CVHSS). Potential moderating relationships were also explored with relevant socio-demographic factors of the student's age, sex, rural or urban community, household income, family type and educational level of the father and mother. Methods: A total of 7,984 students from three vocational high schools in Hunan, China completed a questionnaire about their socio-demographic characteristics, alcohol use, smoking, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress (21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale), insomnia (8-item Athens Insomnia Scale), and abnormal eating attitudes (19-item Chinese version of Eating Attitudes Test). Results: The prevalence rates for behavioral health problems among these students ranged widely depending on the risk factor: 42.5% insomnia, 41.3% anxiety, 26.2% depression, 14.4% stress, 13.7% drinking, and 8.3% smoking. Additionally, 61.7% of students were at-risk for at least one of these six behavioral health disorders. Abnormal eating attitudes were associated with depression (r = 0.422), anxiety (r = 0.490), stress (r = 0.490), and insomnia (r = 0.375), with all of these relationships being significant (p < 0.01) and large size statistical effects. However, other analyzes found that none of the socio-demographic background factors had meaningful associations with the behavioral health risk factors (0 of 28 tests) and very few background factors were associated with the abnormal eating attitude measures (only 3 of 35 tests). Females had higher levels than males on dieting and bulimia but not on the other two eating attitude components. Conclusions: This study determined that behavioral health risk factors (sleep problems and anxiety in particular) were common among high school students in China and that mental health and sleep disorder risks also tended to co-occur in some students with abnormal eating attitudes. Therefore, prevention and early identification programs for behavioral risk factors are needed for this population. It is important to pay more attention to students with abnormal eating attitude-related symptoms, who may have also underlying mental health problems and need further evaluation.

Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence among High School First-Year Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taiwan.

Different types of high schools in Taiwan have the same physical education curriculum. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between senior and vocational high school students. We retrospectively collected health check-up data from 81,076 first-year senior and 68,863 vocational high school students in Taipei City from 2011 to 2014, including their blood pressure, height, weight, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL-c levels. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was determined using definitions from the Taiwan Pediatric Association (TPA), International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and de Ferranti et al. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 1.73% (senior and vocational high school students: 1.22% and 2.33%, respectively) using TPA criteria, 1.02% (0.69% and 1.40%, respectively) using IDF criteria, and 5.11% (3.92% and 6.51%, respectively) using de Ferranti et al. criteria. The most prevalent risk factors overall were increased blood pressure and central obesity. Given the significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in vocational school students regardless of the criteria, and that metabolic syndrome causes future adult health risks, the physical education curriculum and health education program in vocational schools should be strengthened to decrease the risk and prevalence of metabolic syndrome.

Establishing Core Competencies and a Professional Curriculum for the Care Service Department in Vocational High Schools in Taiwan.

In response to the emergence of the aging society, the vocational high school education system in Taiwan has established a care service department since 2018. The purpose of this study was to develop core competencies and a professional curriculum for the care service department in vocational high schools. First, this study invited 20 experts and scholars to take part in a focus group to collect suggestions as the basis for the development of core competencies and a curriculum. Second, this study invited 10 experts and scholars to participate in three rounds of a Delphi survey to evaluate the planning for the development of core competencies and a curriculum that meet educational needs. In this study, we identified eight core competency constructs and 15 indicators across two dimensions relating to the care services taught in vocational high schools. We then designed 26 professional subjects according to the core competencies. We identified the core competencies for long-term care service education and devised a professional curriculum to foster the skills and knowledge among students that are required for successfully meeting the care needs of a rapidly aging society through work in the long-term care industry after graduation.

Vocational education phenomena research method.

The vocational education implementation is one of the success factors for government to improve the quality of human resources, mainly toward producing skilled workers. Various researchers have studied the phenomena of vocational education. Unfortunately, studies on research methods in relation to vocational education phenomena are limited. Hence, this paper examined the research methods on the phenomena of vocational education, based on few case studies in Indonesia. Indonesia has many challenges as such Indonesia is a country with the fourth highest population globally, high level of unemployment, relatively rapid growth of new autonomy, and most number of islands in the world. In fact, Indonesia has different characteristics and needs of human resources from each region.•This article discusses the methods to explore the phenomena of vocational education through case studies in Indonesia.•This method article discusses the division of question groups and deployment of questionnaires through the referral and stages of research.•This method article is the alternative basis for preparing research steps related to study the vocational education phenomena.

Preventing tobacco in vocational high schools: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of P2P, a peer to peer and theory planned behavior-based program.

BACKGROUND: In France, the issue of youth smoking remains a major challenge for public health. School failure, socio-economic and socio-cultural backgrounds influence the initiation and maintenance of smoking behavior in adolescents. Vocational students are at particularly high risk of using psychoactive substances, including tobacco. One of the most important factors is the environment, whether family, friends or peers. Therefore, peer education has a positive potential to change smoking behavior of adolescents. It has also been demonstrated that the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has yielded the best prediction of intentions and behavior, in several health domains, including on tobacco. However, it is usually confined to the measurement of processes by which interventions change behavior, rather than to the development of these interventions. The objective of this paper is to describe the protocol for a randomized controlled trial of a peer intervention based on the TPB on a highly exposed young population. METHODS/DESIGNS: This is a cluster randomized controlled trial comparing an intervention group to a control group, randomized into clusters (professional schools and classes) and stratified in three departments (Hérault, Aude and Gard) in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The primary issue is the prevalence of daily smoking at 24 months, defined by a daily tobacco use of at least 1 cigarette, validated by CO levels in exhaled air. The primary hypothesis is that intervention will lead to decrease the daily smoking prevalence of 10% between the intervention group and the control group during a 2-year follow-up. DISCUSSION: The results from this trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness of an innovative peer-to-peer intervention based on the TPB. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN: 37336035 , Retrospectively registered 11/12/2015.

Evaluation of the effects of a designated program on illegal drug cessation among adolescents who experiment with drugs.

BACKGROUND: Studies indicate that adolescent-onset drug users experience a greater likelihood of dependence that continues into adulthood. The importance of early intervention was evident in treating adolescents before their substance use progressed. We examined the effectiveness of an intervention program that prevents students who experiment with drugs from reusing them. METHODS: The study was based on 10 out of 18 invited schools that were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (5 schools, n = 43) or the comparison group (5 schools, n = 41). The intervention group received an E-course program that comprised a main intervention course (12 sessions) and a booster course (2 sessions). By reducing the burden of teaching content during the 14 sessions, the in-class counselor had opportunities for face-to-face discussions with students on their ambivalence toward quitting illegal drugs. The comparison group received the conventional didactic drug prevention course (2 sessions). Outcomes in terms of stress management, refusal skills, pros of drug use, cons of drug use, and drug use resistance self-efficacy were measured via structured questionnaires conducted thrice: at baseline, after the main intervention sessions, and after the booster sessions. A linear mixed model (LMM) was employed to investigate the effects of time and groups on the outcome variables with group, time, and group × time as fixed effects. Subjects and schools were selected as random effects in order to consider both within-subject and within-school correlations. RESULTS: There was a significant group × time interaction with regard to stress management, refusal skills, pros of drug use, and drug use resistance self-efficacy, excluding cons of drug use. The intervention group displayed better stress management compared to the comparison group after the booster intervention. Similar between-group differences were identified in that the intervention group displayed better refusal skills and drug use resistance self-efficacy compared to that of the comparison group. The intervention group favored using drugs less (a decrease in the pros of drug use score) compared to the comparison group after the booster intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Our program provided an example of the results of early intervention among students who experiment with illegal drugs.