Awareness of Students' Emotional and Behavioral Screening Test based on Parental and Teacher Ratings

OBJECTIVES: Since 2013, the Students' Emotional and Behavioral Screening Test (SEBT) has been conducted annually for 1st grade and 4th grade elementary school students, 1st year middle school students, and 1st year high school students. The SEBT has been considered to have effectiveness and strength for screening high risk students who have a strong possibility of harboring emotional or behavioral problems in school. Therefore, in this study, we conducted an investigation into the awareness of the SEBT based on the rating score of the parents and teachers to determine its future direction and management. METHODS: A total of 731 parents and 149 teachers participated in this study. Each participant completed a self-administered questionnaire on their awareness of the SEBT. RESULTS: 428 (58.5%) parents and 99 (66.4%) teachers rated their overall satisfaction at more than 4 points out of a total of 5 points. The test reliability was rated at more than 4 points out of a total of 5 points by 52.1% of the parents (n=381) and 47.7% of the teachers (n=71). CONCLUSION: Both parents and teachers consider the SEBT to be highly satisfactory and reliable.

Effect of Korean High School Students' Mental Health on Academic Achievement and School Dropout Rate

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of high school students' mental health on their academic achievement and school dropout rate by using longitudinal data. METHODS: For this study, 153 high schools were randomly sampled on a nationwide scale. The descriptive data was collected from a school information internet site which is organized by the Korean Ministry of Education. We used the schools' mean scores on the Adolescent Mental Health Problem-Behavior Questionnaire-II (AMPQ-II) scale which was used for estimating students' mental health in the 2013 school-based mental health screening test. The data analysis was conducted by using hierarchical regression analysis. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the AMPQ-II scale's mean scores have significant effects on the following year's academic achievement and annual dropout rates. Especially, the AMPQ-II scale's mean scores tend to increase the school dropout rate in vocational schools. CONCLUSION: The finding of this study is that Korean high school students' mental health states significantly influence their academic achievement and school dropout rate.