Search

Using data collected over a 1-year period on a stratified random sample of 368 parents with children studying in nurseries (mean age=3.97years), this study assessed the predictive effects of parental corporal punishment, parental psychological aggression, preschoolers' altruism, and preschoolers' forgiveness on preschoolers' anxiety symptoms in Hong Kong, China. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that parental psychological aggression, preschoolers' altruism and preschoolers' forgiveness at Time 1 significantly predicted preschoolers' anxiety at Time 2, when controlling for the initial level of preschoolers' anxiety and important demographic variables that co-vary with preschoolers' anxiety. Moreover, preschoolers' altruism moderated the predictive effect of parental psychological aggression on preschoolers' anxiety symptoms. The study has several significant contributions. First, the study supports the predictive effect of parental aggressive discipline on preschoolers' anxiety. Second, we provide evidence that preschoolers' altruism and forgiveness negatively predict preschoolers' anxiety symptoms. Third, preschoolers' altruism and forgiveness are shown to protect them against parental psychological aggression. A dual-focus approach to intervention and prevention is proposed to reduce aggressive discipline by parents as well as to enhance altruism and forgiveness in children. Parent training programs could be provided to teach parents positive discipline strategies. Home-based or school-based interventions could be designed for preschool children to foster and enhance their altruism and forgiveness., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: : Suicidal ideation has been identified increasingly as a problem among university students in Hong Kong. Understanding the relationships among hopelessness, perceived family functioning, and suicidal ideation is essential to designing effective interventions., Objectives: : The aims of this study are to explore the relationships among hopelessness, perceived family functioning, and suicidal ideation and to examine the moderating and mediating roles played by hopelessness on suicidal ideation., Methods: : A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted. A questionnaire was administered to 350 university students with ages 18 to 25 years. The questions measured levels of suicidal ideation, perceived family functioning, and hopelessness of the students. Data analyses, including correlation and multiple hierarchical regression analyses, were conducted to examine the mediating and moderating roles of hopelessness on suicidal ideation., Results: : Perceived family functioning (B = -.10, p < .05) and hopelessness (B = .56, p < .001) were shown to be significant predictors of suicidal ideation. Hopelessness was found to mediate only partially but moderate the impact of perceived family functioning on suicidal ideation (B = -.88, p < .05), hence expanding Beck's cognitive theory of suicide., Conclusion: : Perceived family functioning and hopelessness are significant predictors, whereas hopelessness is a partial mediator and a significant moderator of suicidal ideation. Therefore, interventions that enhance family functioning and lower the sense of hopelessness may be effective in decreasing suicidal ideation among university students.

Based on the responses of 5,557 Chinese secondary students in Hong Kong, the relationships among perceived hopelessness, family functioning, and suicidal ideation were examined. Results showed that suicidal ideation was positively related to hopelessness, but negatively related to parent-adolescent communication. Compared with father-adolescent communication, mother-adolescent communication generally had a stronger association with adolescent suicidal ideation. It was further found that the linkage between hopelessness and adolescent suicidal ideation was stronger under a low parent-adolescent communication condition, thus suggesting the moderating effect of parent-adolescent communication on the effect of hopelessness on suicidal ideation. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Several socio-demographic correlates, including age of adolescents, family economic status, parental marital status, parental occupational status and parental educational level of adolescent suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents (N = 5,557) were examined in this study. The results showed that older adolescents had a significantly higher level of suicidal ideation than did younger ones. Adolescents living in non-intact families had a significantly higher level of suicidal ideation than those in intact families. Adolescents with lower socioeconomic status (indexed by economic disadvantage, parental occupational status, and parental educational attainment) displayed higher levels of suicidal ideation than did adolescents with higher suicidal ideation. Although these socio-demographic correlates were significantly related to suicidal ideation, the practical significance was not high.