Does the psychoemotional well-being of Spanish students influence their mathematical literacy? An evidence from PISA 2018

Data from international studies reveal that the mathematics literacy of Spanish students is significantly lower than that of students from nearby countries. Therefore, in recent years, interest in identifying the factors that influence students' mathematics results in Spain has grown considerably. Often, these factors are sought among the socioeconomic characteristics of the students or among variables related to the schools, ignoring the psychological and emotional factors of the students. This paper analyzes the impact of certain psychoemotional characteristics of Spanish students on their literacy in mathematics. For this purpose, multilevel regression models are applied to the data of the Spanish sample of the 2018 edition of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), which is composed of 35,943 15-year-old students. The instruments for data collection are the mathematics literacy tests and the contextual questionnaires on students' personal situation and well-being used by PISA. As dependent variable, students' mathematics literacy has been considered, measured through the plausible values provided by PISA, and as independent variables, different indices measuring students' psychoemotional well-being obtained from the contextual information collected by PISA. Results indicate that resilience, motivation for the achievement of learning objectives, competitiveness, perceived cooperation at school, and social connectedness with parents have a positive impact on students' mathematics literacy, while experiences related to bullying, physical self-concept, meaning in life and perceived competitiveness at school have a negative impact.

[Quality of life in the elderly with an acquired single-sided deafness.]

The study aimed to assess a negative impact of an acquired single-sided deafness on quality of life of the elderly. Prospective analysis of outpatient records was carried out to identify elderly patients with single-sided deafness using pure tone audiometry. The main inclusion criteria were age over 60, ≥90 dB threshold of an affected ear, ≤30 dB threshold of an intact ear, an acquired single-sided hearing loss with sudden onset and deafness duration less than 5 years. Taking inclusion criteria into account two groups were formed: the main group with single-sided deaf patients (n=25) and the control group of normal hearing patients (n=25). All participants were surveyed with PSQ, HHIE, THI questionnaires. There were revealed some changes in psychological status in the group of patients with single-sided deafness in comparison with the group of normal hearing participants. The scores of the questionnaires showed increased stress and anxiety levels and deterioration in quality of life. Patients with single-sided deafness complained about severe tinnitus in an affected ear, worse speech intelligibility in noisy environment and a constant need to adapt to the different acoustic situations that in turn badly affected psychoemotional homeostasis, intensifying stress severity, and quality of life.

[The Self-Evaluation of Health and Psycho-Emotional Status of the Young Families and Population of Adolescent Youth Age]

The purpose of the study was to investigate characteristics of health and psycho-emotional status according to self-assessment in young families and contingents of adolescence, residing in the Irkutsk oblast, in the second decade of XXI century.

METHODS

The study implemented technology of self-assessment of the level of individual health according five-point scale in groups of adolescents, students, and the families. The methodology also considered presence of chronic diseases, manifestations of painful symptoms, rate of cases of diseases during the year, number of visits to physician, causes of disease, treatment costs. The prompt diagnosis was implemented regarding psycho-emotional stress on the basis of method of O. S. Kopina et al. (2004). In families and among students, the degree of satisfaction with various aspects of life was rated.

RESULTS

The number of persons among adult family member, who rated their health status as satisfactory, was higher than among adolescents and youths by 2.0 and 1.5 times (χ2 = 11.2, p = 0.02). The highest frequency of self-assessment of health as "bad" and "very poor" was among students. Teenage-girls and student-girls were statistically significantly more likely than young boys to note morphofunctional disorders on the part of various organs and systems. In adolescent groups, 2.3% of boys and 10.9% of girls; in the groups of students - 8.9% of boys and 12.8% of girls reported pathology of reproductive system. The main reasons of visiting patients for medical care are: respiratory and digestive diseases, allergic and neurological diseases. Students and family adult members also suffered of circulatory system diseases. The family adult members experienced high level of psychoemotional stress more frequently than adolescents by 3.4 times, students - 2.9 times (χ2 = 31.3; p < 0.001), which corresponded to lower indicators of satisfaction of the family adult members with living conditions.

FINDINGS

The high frequency of morphofunctional disorders, neurotic and psychosomatic manifestations among examined individuals indicate significant prevalence of autonomic nervous system dysfunctions and latent pathological processes.

Evaluation of the psychoemotional status of young adults with symptoms of temporomandibular disorders

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are among the most frequent pathologies of the stomatognathic system. One problem often associated with TMD is the psychoemotional status. The aim of study was to evaluate the psychoemotional status of young adults with pain symptoms associated with TMD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We analyzed the data of 260 volunteers. The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) form was used to diagnose TMD. The relationships between TMD/RDC clinical diagnoses and psychoemotional status, as described by the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), were analyzed. We divide the group into four on the basis of RDC/TMD Axis I diagnosis. Group 0 included 30 students lacking TMD symptoms. Group I consisted of 30 people with myofascial pain (group IA in RDC/TMD). Group II contained 23 people with disk displacement with reduction (group IIA in RDC/TMD). Group III contained ten people (Group III diagnosis, often associated with pain).

RESULTS

We did not find statistically significant differences between the study groups. In subjects with pain (Groups I and III), we found the mean value on the BDI and PSS-10 scales to be higher than among the pain-free subjects (Groups 0 and II).

CONCLUSION

In young adults with TMD accompanied by pain, psychoemotional status should also be evaluated.