The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study is to describe the commonality of the lived experience of suicide survivors and how it influences their family relationships in Taiwan from a sociocultural perspective. Thirteen suicide survivors have participated in this study. Study results reveal that some survivors blame themselves, some blame others, and some are blamed by their family as part of their need to find a reason for the death. Consequently, family members ignore each other and treat each other as if they are invisible. These Chinese suicide survivors, unlike Western survivors, maintain their strained family connections because of strong cultural influences. Therefore, health professionals should acknowledge the experiences of living with an invisible family when supporting Chinese suicide survivors.

The effect of shadow education or private supplementary education (PSE) on school achievement has been prolifically studied, but its impact on well-being remains understudied. This study examines the heterogeneous effect of PSE participation on school achievement and depression symptoms among high schoolers in Taiwan. The study uses panel data of the Taiwan Upper Secondary Database (TUSD) in the 2014 and 2015 academic years. We join the inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) approach and the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model to estimate the effects of PSE participation patterns on two correlated outcomes, comprehensive assessment of high school entrance examination and self-reported depression symptoms in the 11th grade. The latent class analysis identifies five PSE participation patterns: always-taker, early-adopter, dropout, late-adopter, and explorer, to predict the effect of PSE on the scores of entrance examination and later depression symptoms in high school (n = 7708, mean age = 15.33). The findings suggest that PSE participation in junior high is positively associated with academic achievement. However, PSE participation also increases depression symptoms, particularly in the case of always-takers. In other words, while always-takers increase their school achievement in transition into high school, their risks of suffering from depression are also higher than their peers.

This study posits a bioecological positivity to success (BEPS) model and examines how diverse bioecological factors predict graduates’ career success. The BEPS model with an emphasis on hard (e.g. science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM]) and soft (e.g. interpersonal and critical thinking) skills generate a hypothetical model: positive aspects of person (mathematical/hard and affective/soft abilities), process (effective hard and soft competencies learning in higher education) and proximal contexts (original family income and present employment status) predict graduates’ career success (job income and perceived extrinsic, intrinsic and autonomy satisfaction) in early adulthood. Gender, studying STEM, and study years are also included as predictors in the path analysis as control. Path analyses examine the model with cohort data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS) and its follow-up (TEPS-B), which are longitudinal studies of a group of young people (n = 2,700) since grade 7 till age 24–25 years old. Results reveal that soft skills and employment play the most significant roles in graduates’ career success. Hard skills play a minor role. Findings support the BEPS model and provide implications for educational practices and policymaking to emphasise on soft skills learning, employability and entrepreneurship education.