Network analysis of anxiety-related traits in male and female vocational students: Identifying potential targets for educational interventions

Introduction: In spite of Vocational Education Training (VET) being a significant part of French educational system, this educational track is considered as less prestigious compared to general education. This negative perception of VET could lead to a number of emotional problems in 2students in these schools, including higher anxiety, and lower wellbeing and self-esteem. The current study applied network analysis to map the complex links among various anxiety-related traits in four large samples of VET students, thereby identifying targets for potential educational interventions. Methods: 28 questionnaires tapping into anxiety-related psychological constructs, such as selfesteem, parental beliefs and school adaptation, were completed by 4 groups of VET students aged from 15 to over 20 (mode: 16). The sample included 3069 females in ASSP schools (nursing and caring); 2108 females and 1772 males in Commerce schools (sales and management); and 2262 males in MELEC schools (electricity and maintenance). We used Gaussian Graphical models (GGMs) that allow to build sparce models of links among multiple variables and detect targets for interventions via identification of the most central nodes.Results: Our findings replicated gender differences shown for investigated constructs in previous studies (Cohen’s d from 0.06 to 0.7): males showed higher self-esteem and math grades, whereasfemales reported higher anxiety and error sensitivity but stronger endorsement of mastery approach achievement goals. GGMs showed some differences in network structure, including in centrality indices and clusters of nodes for males and females. The most central nodes were self-reported math competence for females in ASSP group, self-regulation for females in Commerce, and mastery approach goals for males in both MELEC and Commerce groups.Discussion: The results obtained with GGMs could be used to plan further translational research as they allow to formulate hypotheses regarding chains of connections among multiple traits and potential transfer effects of educational interventions in males and females with different educational majors.