The present study examined the globally relevant predictors of adolescents’ subjective well-being (SWB) using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 Student Questionnaire. Guided by the social-cognitive-behavior model (Suldo et al., 2008) and self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), nine variables were selected and subjected to a statistical procedure of decision tree modeling (DTM). Our results showed that parent and peer support were the most salient predictors of adolescents’ SWB across all eight world regions under investigation, followed by anxiety and gender. However, we also noted some variations in the relative importance of parent and peer support and multiple pathways that lead to SWB. The study concludes with practical implications.

The transition to secondary school may negatively impact adolescents’ psychosocial and subjective well-being development. However, how subjective well-being develops during secondary school and how school contextual factors, including aspects of ability grouping and achievement composition, are associated with the development of subjective well-being still require clarification. This study examined two measures of subjective well-being, life satisfaction and school satisfaction, to investigate the development of subjective well-being during secondary school. Moreover, school context variations in the form of school tracks and school-level achievement were analyzed to examine the extent to which ability grouping and achievement composition were associated with the development of subjective well-being. A large-scale longitudinal German dataset with four measurement points from grades 6 to 10 was analyzed (Time 1: N = 1,841; M_age = 12.20, SD = 0.81; 48.4% female; 45.3% immigrant students). The latent growth model revealed that life satisfaction and school satisfaction decreased statistically significantly during secondary school, yet school satisfaction showed a temporary increase between the end of primary school and right after the transition to secondary school. School tracks did not statistically significantly predict the magnitude of the decline in life satisfaction or school satisfaction. Only school-level achievement composition significantly negatively predicted the decline in life satisfaction, suggesting that students in schools with higher levels of achievement composition had a greater decrease in life satisfaction than their counterparts in schools with lower levels of achievement composition. Taken together, these findings contribute to the knowledge of how life and school satisfaction develop during secondary school and the long-term associations between subjective well-being and school context factors.

This study examined learning strategy use in mathematics among East Asian students in East Asian educational systems. By employing latent class analysis on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 data, we found four classes of learning strategy types, namely memorization with metacognitive strategies (17.49%), metacognitive strategies with memorization (50.70%), elaboration only (10.33%), and metacognitive strategies with elaboration (16.47%). The results showed that the majority of the students in all seven East Asian educational systems belonged to the ‘metacognitive strategies with memorization’ class, and most students adopted more than one type of learning strategy when learning mathematics. Additionally, students who reported the use of metacognitive strategies along with either memorization or elaboration showed higher mathematics achievement. We conclude that the cognitive processes employed by students of East Asian backgrounds are more complex and nuanced than the previous perception that they relied heavily on memorization.

For surveys of complex issues that entail multiple steps, multiple reference points, and nongradient attributes (e.g., social inequality), this study proposes a new multiprocess model that integrates ideal-point and dominance approaches into a treelike structure (IDtree). In the IDtree, an ideal-point approach describes an individual’s attitude and then a dominance approach describes their tendency for using extreme response categories. Evaluation of IDtree performance via two empirical data sets showed that the IDtree fit these data better than other models. Furthermore, simulation studies showed a satisfactory parameter recovery of the IDtree. Thus, the IDtree model sheds light on the response processes of a multistage structure.

Learning behavior of East Asian students has been debated due to their striking performance on international large-scale assessments. This study was a comparative study using latent class analysis to examine students’ perceptions of learning strategies, students’ reported learning strategy use, and the relationships between learning strategies and self-efficacy across Taiwanese and American students in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. The results indicate that learning strategy items were perceived equivalently. Taiwanese students (5%) reported less memorization than American students (19%). More Taiwanese students (63%) reported elaboration strategy; more American students (57%) reported control strategy. High self-efficacy Taiwanese students reported memorization the least; high self-efficacy American students reported elaboration less than control strategy. Implications are discussed.

Impact and Implications The Received Social Support Scale for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (rSSS-SMI) is the first service-user-driven SMI-specific measure of social support that assesses received support, an orientation that is critical to a full determination of social support conditions. The rSSS-SMI provides researchers with a preliminary tool for developing and validating interventions that extend beyond generic social network enhancements to target and enhance SMI-specific types of support. The rSSS-SMI also provides a vehicle for identifying the interactions between specific types of support and SMI stressors (e.g., homelessness, unemployment, isolation, poverty, stigma, illness management)-information that will have significant impact on improving quality of life, wellness, and recovery among persons with SMI. Existing population-specific support measures for communities with health conditions are being used to establish and assess national health care performance standards. The rSSS- SMI exerts a parallel impact on mental health care policy. Purpose/Objective: This study investigated the psychometric properties of a newly developed Received Social Support Scale for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (rSSS-SMI). The rSSS-SMI measures three support domains: Day-to-Day Living support, Mental Health Support, and Adherence Support. Research Method/Design: (a) to examine the item quality of the rSSS-SMI, (b) to investigate the construct validity and verify the dimensionality of the rSSS-SMI, and (c) to investigate the reliability and validity of the rSSS-SMI scores. A sample of 267 community-based case management service recipients with SMI completed the rSSS-SMI and three additional scales (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-Short Form [ISEL-12]; Symptom Checklist-6 [SCL-6]; Satisfaction with Life Scale [SWLS]). Results: Three items were dropped from the scale resulting in a 21-item scale. Confirmatory factor analysis and Item Response Theory analyses revealed our proposed three-factor model fit the data best, with average loadings at .74 (SD = .09). The three-factor model had higher item discrimination and item difficulty parameters than the one-factor model. The rSSS-SMI achieved strong internal consistency with estimates of .94 (full scale), .83 (Day-to-Day Living Support), .84 (Mental Health Support) and .76 (Adherence Support). The three-week interval test-retest reliability coefficient was .59. Convergent and discriminant validity evidence revealed a small, positive correlation between the rSSS-SMI and perceived support (ISEL-12) and symptom distress (SCL-6) and a small, negative, nonsignificant relationship with life satisfaction (SWLS). Conclusion: This study provides preliminary reliability and validity evidence for the rSSS-SMI and confirms our proposed three-factor structure (Day-to-Day Living Support, Mental Health Support, Adherence Support).