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Background Healthy movement behaviors in early childhood are believed to track to adulthood, potentially imparting protective benefits against non-communicable diseases. Highlighting the collaborative and complementary roles of parents and educators in promoting health of young children, this study aims to enable parents and teachers to successfully promote healthy movement behaviors in young children. Guidelines for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep of children aged 2 to 6 years will be systematically disseminated to parents and teachers of children enrolled in early childhood education centers (ECECs) in Hong Kong. An evaluation will be conducted to assess the implementation process and the outcomes of the dissemination of said guidelines. Methods The evaluation will include formative and summative components to examine the implementation (i.e., process evaluation) and the outcomes (i.e., outcome evaluation). Participants include teachers, parents, and children from ECECs in Hong Kong. The process evaluation will be guided by the RE-AIM framework (i.e., reach, efficacy, adaptation, implementation, maintenance). Data gathering and analysis will take a mixed-methods triangulation design - convergence model. The outcome evaluation consists of a non-randomized observational study, using quantitative data from questionnaires and accelerometers. The primary outcome to be measured is the extent to which children meet the guidelines for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep; the secondary outcome is teachers’ and parents’ knowledge and awareness of the guidelines. Discussion Young children who engage in healthy movement behaviors are likely to become adults who will have the disposition to engage in behaviors that have protective effects against non-communicable diseases. The findings of this evaluation are expected to contribute to improving the strategies of systems and government agencies that aspire to promote healthy movement behaviors of young children.

Based on the data collected from the Tier 1 Program of a community-based positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) in 2013, the current study explored the perspectives of 634 program implementers who implemented the Tier 1 Program in Hong Kong. Upon the completion of the program, the program implementers responded to a validated client satisfaction scale (Form B). The results showed that the program implementers perceived the program, implementers and benefits of the program in a positive manner. However, there were no differences among perceived program content, implementers and effectiveness across the three grades. Consistent with previous studies, perceived program predicted effectiveness of the program. Nevertheless, program implementers did not predict program effectiveness. Once again, the present findings indicated that the Tier 1 Program was well received by the program implementers.

Following the North American model, the length of undergraduate program in Hong Kong has been extended from 3 to 4 years since 2012. To maximize the impact of the additional year, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has implemented a new general education framework entitled “General University Requirements (GUR)” aiming to cultivate students in a holistic manner. This study explored students’ impressions of the GUR subjects using a survey collecting primarily qualitative data. Results from 163 students of eight faculties showed that students perceived the GUR subjects favorably. Having opportunities to make new friends from other departments and the teaching and learning methods, particularly experiential learning stimulated students’ interest and enriched their learning experiences which were reportedly are unforgettable. Some of the obstacles encountered by students in several subjects were identified. The beneficial effects of the GUR subjects in different domains were voiced by the students.

Background Bullying in the workplace is a serious public health issue. As a chronic work stress, workplace bullying places the victims’ physical and mental health at risk which, in extreme cases, may lead to suicidal ideation. The high prevalence rate of workplace bullying has been reported and documented globally. However, a major limitation of the existing literature is that studies essentially focus on the consequences of workplace bullying on victims, including the psychological, physiological and socioeconomic impacts, and on the factors causing workplace bullying, but research on the impact of workplace bullying on the victims’ families is lacking. It is however evident that the consequences of workplace bullying have a spillover effect on the victims’ family members. Since many victims have children and given that children are particularly vulnerable to a negative family environment, examining the impacts of the type of parental stress induced by workplace bullying on children’s health including physical and psychological health (depression and self-esteem), externalizing problem behaviors (aggression, lying, disrespect) and school adjustment (academic performance and school conduct) is urgently needed. The overall aim of this study is to examine how health, externalizing problem behaviors and school adjustment of children whose parents are victims of workplace bullying may be associated with the impact that workplace bullying has on parenting practices. Methods It is a longitudinal study. Quantitative data will be collected from multi-informants, including currently employed Chinese parents, their children aged between 6 and 12 years old, and their class teachers at two time points, separated by a 1-year interval. One primary school will be recruited from each district of Hong Kong including participants with different socioeconomic backgrounds. At least 837 dyads (parents and children) from 18 primary schools will join the study. Discussion Workplace bullying not only affects victims but can also be harmful to their families as it alters the victims temper in the family environment. Results will be informative for the government and corporations to make concerted efforts and find strategies to prevent workplace bullying and to heighten the awareness of the importance of promoting safe and respectful workplaces for workers.

This study aimed to investigate prevalence and associated factors of influenza vaccination (IV) among children aged 12-23 months. Our cross-sectional survey interviewed 489 parents of children aged 12-23 months anonymously at twelve maternal and child health centers in Hong Kong. Results showed that only 11.5% of the children had ever received IV (64.3% being subsidized). Adjusted for the child's age, significant factors of the children's IV included parental knowledge about governmental policy/recommendation (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.64, 95%CI = 1.09,6.40), knowledge about annual IV requirement (AOR = 2.30, 95%CI = 1.21,4.38), perceived safety-related barrier (AOR≥0.14, 95%CI = 0.06,0.33), cue to action (AOR = 7.79, 95%CI = 3.45,17.58), and subjective norm (AOR = 4.59, 95%CI = 2.34,9.00). IV prevalence of children aged 12-23 months remained low despite a subsidization scheme. The higher IV prevalence of older children reported by other studies suggested that parents postponed action. Promotion campaigns should shift emphases from cost reduction and mass media approaches to dissemination of knowledge about IV policy and safety, enhancement of health professionals' advice, and creation of supportive subjective norm.

Since the 2012−2013 academic year, undergraduate programs in Hong Kong have been changed from 3 years to 4 years, with the additional year focusing primarily on general education. A new general education framework entitled General University Requirements (GUR) implemented at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) was examined in a 5-year longitudinal project. Based on different evaluation strategies, including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation and qualitative evaluation (focus groups, case studies, and document analyses), findings consistently showed that students had positive perceptions of the subject content, teachers as well as teaching and learning methods in GUR subjects. A large majority of students perceived that the GUR subjects were effective in promoting the five desirable graduate attributes defined by PolyU (i.e. problem solving, critical thinking ability, effective communication, ethical leadership, and lifelong learning).

Family processes and positive youth development attributes are salient determinants of adolescent development. In this chapter, the influences of family factors (family functioning, parent-child relationship, parenting style, parent-child communication, parental marital problems, and economic disadvantage) and positive youth development attributes on the personal well-being of Chinese adolescents are reviewed. The review demonstrates that there are several limitations of the existing scientific literature in the Chinese context. First, in contrast to the abundance of Western studies, there is a lack of Chinese studies. Second, more emphasis should be put on understanding families from an ecological perspective. Third, few studies have examined both systemic and dyadic family processes in a single study. Fourth, positive youth development research is still in its infancy in different Chinese contexts. Fifth, there are few Chinese validated measures of personal well-being and family quality of life in the field. Sixth, there are few longitudinal studies in different Chinese societies. Finally, there are few studies in which multiple positive and negative measures of personal well-being are employed in one single study.

The implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program (Secondary 1 Program) of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the third year of the Full Implementation Phase was examined in this study, with classroom observations of 233 units in 157 schools. Results demonstrated that the overall level of program adherence was generally high with an average of 72.96%. A total of 13 aspects regarding program delivery were significantly correlated. Multiple regression analyses indicated that overall implementation quality was significantly predicted by student participation and involvement, classroom control, use of positive and supportive feedback, degree of achievement of the objectives, and time management. Student participation and involvement, classroom control, degree of achievement of the objectives, and time management were significant predictors of success of implementation.