Influence of social anxiety and emotional self‐efficacy on pre‐transition concerns, social threat sensitivity, and social adaptation to secondary school

Prediction of adolescent weight status by machine learning: a population-based study

BACKGROUND

Adolescent weight problems have become a growing public health concern, making early prediction of non-normal weight status crucial for effective prevention. However, few temporal prediction tools for adolescent four weight status have been developed. This study aimed to predict the short- and long-term weight status of Hong Kong adolescents and assess the importance of predictors.

METHODS

A population-based retrospective cohort study of adolescents was conducted using data from a territory-wide voluntary annual health assessment service provided by the Department of Health in Hong Kong. Using diet habits, physical activity, psychological well-being, and demographics, we generated six prediction models for successive weight status (normal, overweight, obese and underweight) using multiclass Decision Tree, Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbor, eXtreme gradient boosting, support vector machine, logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated by multiple standard classifier metrics and the overall accuracy. Predictors' importance was assessed using Shapley values.

RESULTS

442,898 Primary 4 (P4, Grade 4 in the US) and 344,186 in Primary 6 (P6, Grade 6 in the US) students, with followed up until their Secondary 6 (Grade 12 in the US) during the academic years 1995/96 to 2014/15 were included. The XG Boosts model consistently outperformed all other model in predicting the long-term weight status at S6 from P4 or P6. It achieved an overall accuracy of 0.72 or 0.74, a micro-averaging AUC of 0.92 or 0.93, and a macro-averaging AUC of 0.83 or 0.86, respectively. XG Boost also demonstrated accurate predictions for each predicted weight status, surpassing the AUC values obtained by other models. Weight, height, sex, age, frequency and hours of aerobic exercise were consistently the most important predictors for both cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

The machine learning approaches accurately predict adolescent weight status in both short- and long-term. The developed multiclass model that utilizing easy-assessed variables enables accurate long-term prediction on weight status, which can be used by adolescents and parents for self-prediction when applied in health care system. The interpretable models may help to provide the early and individualized interventions suggestions for adolescents with weight problems particularly.

Physical activity and school adaptation among Chinese junior high school students: chain mediation of resilience and coping styles

Background

As a crucial juncture in students' educational journey, junior high school presents challenges that profoundly influence well-being and academic performance. Physical activity emerges as a pivotal factor shaping the holistic development of junior high school students. Beyond its recognized impact on physical and mental health, engaging in regular physical activity proves effective in augmenting students' adaptability to school life. Despite its importance, the mechanisms through which physical activity influences school adaptation in junior high school students remain understudied in academic research.

Objective

In exploring the potential mechanisms, this study aims to validate the mediating roles of resilience and coping styles by examining the association between physical activity and school adaptation among junior high school students.

Methods

This study employed cross-sectional survey approach among junior high school students in China. Through the convenience sampling, 1,488 participants aged from 12 to 16 years old (Average age = 13.59, SD = 1.017) from two Junior high schools in Changsha City, Hunan Province were recruited to complete the Physical Activity Scale, School Adaptation Questionnaire for Junior High School Students, Resilience Scale for Adolescents, and Simple Coping Styles Questionnaire. For data analysis, the SPSS 26.0 and Amos 26.0 were used for statistical processing.

Results

The results showed that physical activity exhibited a significant correlation with school adaptation (r = 0.656, p < 0.001). Resilience, positive coping style and negative coping style played partial mediating roles between physical activity and school adaptation, with the effect size were 0.229, 0.170, 0.171. The chain mediation effect size of resilience and positive coping style was 0.042, while the chain mediation effect size of resilience and negative coping style was 0.050.

Conclusion

Physical activity positively predicts Chinese junior high school students' school adaptation through resilience and coping styles, suggesting that junior high school students should engage in regular physical activity, so as to improve their resilience and positive coping styles, mitigating negative coping styles, thus promoting their school adaptation.

Teacher Perspectives on Primary-Secondary School Transition Projects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Opportunity areas are primarily selected to improve the social mobility of citizens using education. This paper explores teachers' perspectives on school transitions, particularly emphasizing the role of school transition intervention activities in supporting students' resilience, behavior, academic understanding, and positive parental involvement. Informed by Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions (MMT) theory, the paper focuses on the outcomes of school transition intervention activities applied to new Year 7 students in a UK opportunity area. Data was collected through document review, teacher survey, and semi-structured interviews. As a result, 14 interventions were identified, such as a summer school program, peer mentoring, and interschool visits, aiming to make primary to secondary school transition smoother. However, the findings suggested that many schools did not employ some of the school transition intervention projects. Moreover, the data indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the implementation of many of the school transition projects. The paper contributes to understanding the impact of school transition projects on students' confidence, wellbeing, and academic achievement.

Evolution and impact of self-efficacy during French COVID-19 confinement: a longitudinal study

Based on social cognitive theory, we propose that self-efficacy is a personal resource that protects people from the impact of confinement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a longitudinal study where 197 French citizens were surveyed over 8 weeks of confinement (though only 25 participants responded each of these 8 weeks), we examined the relationships between general self-efficacy and positive affect, negative affect and adaptive performance at work. Consistent with theoretical expectations, self-efficacy was relatively stable during confinement and was positively related to positive affect and negatively related to negative affect. Self-efficacy was also positively correlated with all dimensions of adaptive performance at work during confinement. The role of self-efficacy as a protective factor against depressive risks induced by the stressful COVID-19 pandemic is discussed.