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A SCERTS model-based intervention with different durations (5-month vs. 10-month) was provided to 122 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (age = 53.43 ± 9.05 months) in Hong Kong. Before and after the intervention, the children were assessed with the Chinese Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition (CPEP-3) and the Developmental Assessment Chart (DAC). Educators and parents expressed their views toward the intervention in focus groups. Results showed that participating children improved significantly in their social communication and emotional behavior after the intervention, as measured by DAC and CPEP-3. Likewise, educators and parents had positive views toward the intervention and noted the children's improvement. The results suggest that a SCERTS model-based intervention can improve social communication, emotional regulation, and other skills in children with ASD.

In this paper, we adopted a qualitative evaluation approach to understand the subjective views of the students on a program on law abidance leadership education covering the Hong Kong National Security Law. The program involves a 3 h lecture and 7 h of self-study on topics surrounding national security. To evaluate the program, we adopted a general qualitative research design to collect data via focus groups using a semi-structured interview guide. Researchers with a doctoral degree and qualitative research experiences conducted six focus groups involving 52 randomly selected students, with 6 to 12 participants per group. Results showed high inter-rater reliability in the thematic analyses. With reference to the questions in the semi-structured interviews, several observations could be highlighted. First, students had different views on different aspects of the lecture, including content, arrangement, lecture notes and assessment. Second, students generally had positive views of teachers' interaction with students and their teaching performance. Third, students had positive learning experiences and they perceived benefits and value of the program. Fourth, despite the positive comments of the students, some students proposed suggestions for improvement. Finally, the program was not seen as brainwashing by the students. Together with evaluation findings based on four other evaluation studies, the triangulated findings suggest that this program promoted the knowledge about law abidance leadership in the students and nurtured their positive attitudes towards law abidance.

Purpose: In this study, we studied the prevalence and correlates of mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and stress) in Hong Kong university students after one year of the occurrence of COVID-19. We examined the relationships between mental health problems and socio-demographic factors (including age, gender, local/international students, living status, and economic strain), need satisfaction, and difficulties encountered., Methods: A cross-sectional online survey involving 1,648 university students (Mean age = 20.09 years ± 1.37) was conducted. They responded to a questionnaire assessing their mental health (including the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-DASS), psychosocial resources, social support, need satisfaction, difficulties and challenges, and evaluation of services they received., Results: Based on DASS cutoff scores, prevalence rates of moderate or above levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were 40.0, 50.7, and 22.2%, respectively. While age and gender were not related to the DASS measures, economic strain and living alone were positively related to negative emotional states based on the results of MANOVAs. Multiple regression and PROCESS analyses showed that need satisfaction and difficulties contributed to depression and anxiety, with stress as a mediating factor., Conclusions: The proportions of students who experienced moderate and above levels of depression (40.0%), anxiety (50.7%), and stress (22.2%) indexed by DASS deserve attention. Living alone and experienced economic disadvantage are risk factors for negative emotional states. Need satisfaction and life challenges are related to negative emotional states. Need satisfaction and difficulties contributed to stress, which further influenced anxiety and depression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Shek, Dou and Zhu.)

The present study examined the concurrent and longitudinal influences of paternal and maternal factors on the levels of and changes in substance use among early adolescents. Based on three waves of data collected from 2,669 junior high school Chinese students in Hong Kong, we found that fathers' and mothers' behavioral control and the quality of parent-adolescent relationship were negative predictors of the initial levels of substance use. Higher levels of maternal behavioral control and quality of mother-adolescent relationship predicted a slower rate of increase in adolescent substance use. Parental psychological control was not a significant predictor of the growth rate of adolescent substance use. While fathers' behavioral control and mother-adolescent relationship were stable concurrent predictors, the mother-adolescent relationship was a robust longitudinal predictor of adolescent substance use. The findings underline the critical roles of parents in influencing adolescent substance use.

Objective : The aim was to examine the effects of parental behaviors and the parent-child relationship on delinquency levels as well as growth rates among early adolescents, and to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal influence of fathers and mothers. Method : The study used and analyzed data collected at Waves 1-3 ( N = 2669, age 12.56 ± 0.71 years at Wave 1) in a six-year research project. Results : While both parents' behavioral control significantly predicted a lower initial level of delinquency, only higher behavioral control of fathers predicted a fast increase in delinquency. In contrast, parental psychological control did not serve as significant predictors in the individual growth curve model. Besides, relationships of father-child and mother-child dyads negatively predicted the initial level of delinquency but not the rate of change in adolescent delinquency. When all factors were investigated simultaneously, fathers' behavioral control and the relationship between mother and child were robust cross-sectional predictors, whereas only the latter was a stable longitudinal predictor of adolescent delinquency. Conclusions : Parenting and the parent-child relationship are predictors of adolescent delinquency. It is necessary to differentiate between: (1) adolescent delinquency level and its change rate over time; (2) different aspects of parent-child dyadic factors; and (3) paternal and maternal factors.