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Background: Air pollution has fast become an issue with great environmental and human health problems that can be attributed to rapid global industrialization and urbanization that has strong negative impacts on human health. Children are particularly vulnerable. While studies on the effects and toxicology of particulate matter pollutants that are 2.5 microns or smaller in size (PM2.5) are abundant, understanding the factors that influence human behaviors against or the avoidance of exposure/contact to air polluted with high levels of PM2.5 is lacking. In this study, this gap was narrowed by used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to investigate the effects of Attitudes (AT), Subjective Norms (SN), and Perceived Behavioral Controls (PBC) on the Behavioral Intentions (BI) of parents with young children with different levels of education against or avoiding contact/exposure to air polluted with high levels of PM2.5. Methods: The TPB model was used to predict the BI of parents with young children with different levels of education that live in Hong Kong using the results collected from 410 online questionnaires. Aspects of the BI influencing parents with young children that earned undergraduate group and post-graduate group were analysed using Smart Partial Least Squares 2.0 software. Results: Our results revealed there were substantial differences in the AT of parents with young children that earned undergraduate and post-graduate degrees with respect to exposure to air with PM2.5 pollution. Conclusions: In this study we assessed the factors that influence the air pollution prevention and avoidance behaviors of parents of the undergraduate and post-graduate groups that were exposed to air polluted with PM2.5. Our results show the AT, SN, PBC, and BI used in the air pollution protection model for the parents of both groups are connected by separate pathways. The undergraduate group has a higher PBC compared to the post-graduate group because the SN associated with their social ecosystems contribute to their BI. Using path analysis, we revealed that the undergraduate and post-graduate groups had different BI paths. The BI path of the undergraduate group is purer and simpler when compared with the path of the post-graduate group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Air pollution has fast become an issue with great environmental and human health problems that can be attributed to rapid global industrialization and urbanization that has strong negative impacts on human health. Children are particularly vulnerable. While studies on the effects and toxicology of particulate matter pollutants that are 2.5 microns or smaller in size (PM2.5) are abundant, understanding the factors that influence human behaviors against or the avoidance of exposure/contact to air polluted with high levels of PM2.5 is lacking. In this study, this gap was narrowed by used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to investigate the effects of Attitudes (AT), Subjective Norms (SN), and Perceived Behavioral Controls (PBC) on the Behavioral Intentions (BI) of parents with young children with different levels of education against or avoiding contact/exposure to air polluted with high levels of PM2.5. Methods: The TPB model was used to predict the BI of parents with young children with different levels of education that live in Hong Kong using the results collected from 410 online questionnaires. Aspects of the BI influencing parents with young children that earned undergraduate group and post-graduate group were analysed using Smart Partial Least Squares 2.0 software. Results: Our results revealed there were substantial differences in the AT of parents with young children that earned undergraduate and post-graduate degrees with respect to exposure to air with PM2.5 pollution. Conclusions: In this study we assessed the factors that influence the air pollution prevention and avoidance behaviors of parents of the undergraduate and post-graduate groups that were exposed to air polluted with PM2.5. Our results show the AT, SN, PBC, and BI used in the air pollution protection model for the parents of both groups are connected by separate pathways. The undergraduate group has a higher PBC compared to the post-graduate group because the SN associated with their social ecosystems contribute to their BI. Using path analysis, we revealed that the undergraduate and post-graduate groups had different BI paths. The BI path of the undergraduate group is purer and simpler when compared with the path of the post-graduate group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research studies have demonstrated the link between parents' education and parental stress level. However, these studies have not taken parents' goal orientation into consideration. Based on the framework of goal orientation theory, we examined how parents' goals would interact with parents' education to affect perceived parental stress in face of children's upsetting school experience. Participants were 189 parents of Hong Kong Chinese children studying in kindergartens. Using an experimental design, parents with various education backgrounds were randomly assigned to mastery or performance goals manipulation. The interaction between parents' goals and parents' education on perceived parental stress was investigated. Results from the two-way ANOVA indicated the significant main effect of parents' goals, while the main effect of parents' education and the interaction effect between parents' goals and parents' education were both nonsignificant. Regardless of parents' education, parents in the performance goals condition reported significantly higher parental stress than those in the mastery goals condition. The findings highlight the utility of fostering parents' mastery goal orientation to improve their well-being and capacity to cope with children's academic setback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the associations between dental conditions, sliver diamine fluoride (SDF) application, parental satisfaction, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children. Materials and methods: In a clinical trial conducted in Hong Kong, preschool children who had carious lesions into dentine were randomly assigned to receive an application of SDF solution or placebo on their caries lesions 10 weeks before they received restorations. Additionally, a random sample of caries-free children was also recruited. Parents of the study children rated their satisfaction with their child's teeth using a 5-point scale (5 = very satisfied, 1 = very dissatisfied) 10 weeks after SDF or placebo application. Besides, the Chinese version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (C-ECOHIS) was used to assess the children's OHRQoL. Results: There were 127, 133, and 154 children in the SDF, placebo, and caries-free groups, respectively. The parents whose child had 4 or more decayed teeth reported lower satisfaction scores (mean = 2.0 ± 0.7) with their child's dental health status compared with those of parents whose child had fewer (mean = 2.6 ± 0.9) or no (mean = 3.7 ± 0.7) decayed teeth (p < 0.001). These parents also reported higher C-ECOHIS scores. However, there was no significant difference in parental satisfaction and children's OHRQoL between the SDF and placebo groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: In this study population, parental satisfaction and children's OHRQoL were associated with children's dental caries status but not with SDF application. Clinical relevance: This study provides valuable information about the factors, including SDF application, that can influence parental satisfaction and OHRQoL of preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While past research has linked parental demandingness (parents' rules, regulations, and restrictions for their children) to depression in adolescents, the mechanism underlying this relationship has not been well understood. This study attempts to disentangle the association between parental demandingness and depression by examining the potential mediating role of rumination (a repetitive and passive focus on negative emotions and symptoms) using an objective observational measure of parenting and a two-wave longitudinal design. Participants were 125 students aged 9 to 14 (M = 12.21, SD = 1.39) from local schools in Hong Kong. Participants completed questionnaires and participated in interaction tasks with their primary caregiving parents at T1 and completed the questionnaires again at T2 (one year later). A longitudinal mediation analysis suggested that the relationship between parental demandingness and depression was mediated by rumination. This study advances the existing literature by supporting that parental demandingness influences depression among children through increasing rumination. The present findings provide insights into the future development of parenting interventions (which aim at reducing parents' commands) in prevention programs for depression in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study investigated the contributions of Chinese secondary school students' meaning in life in Grade 10 to vocational identity in Grade 12 in different Chinese settings. Whether vocational exploration and commitment reported by students (VECS) in Grade 11, and the vocational exploration and commitment reported by parents (VECP) of the students mediate the above link was examined as well. Participants comprised 435 students and their parents/guardians from Hong Kong, 422 students and their parents/guardians from urban Shanghai, and 308 students and their parents/guardians from rural Zhejiang. Partial mediation of the VECS in the relationship between meaning in life and vocational identity was significant in the Shanghai and Zhejiang rural samples. In the Hong Kong sample, the VECP was significantly predicted by meaning in life and could predict vocational identity. Associations between parental perceptions of vocational commitment and adolescents' own career development might therefore be weaker than previously believed. The pattern of the relationships between meaning in life, vocational commitment and identity, and the influence of parents on adolescents' career development in different Chinese local contexts are discussed herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood obesity is a global public health issue, including in the Chinese setting, and its prevalence has increased dramatically throughout the last decade. Since the origins of childhood obesity may lie in the pre-school period, factors relating to very young children’s food consumption should be investigated. Parental influence, including feeding style, is the major determinant of childhood dietary behaviour through altering food provision and social environment. However, the applicability of previous research on parental feeding styles was limited by small sample size. To evaluate the influence of parental feeding styles on children's dietary patterns, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 4553 pre-schoolers in Hong Kong. Information was obtained about dietary intake and how regularly they had breakfast, using previous health surveillance surveys taken among primary school students. Parental feeding styles were assessed by a validated Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire and categorized into ‘instrumental feeding’, ‘emotional feeding’, ‘prompting and encouragement to eat’ and ‘control over eating’. Multivariable analysis was performed, adjusted for demographic information. Instrumental and/or emotional feeding was found to relate to inadequate consumption of fruit, vegetables and breakfast, and positively correlated with intake of high-energy-density food. Encouragement on eating was associated with more frequent consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products and breakfast. Control over eating correlated with more frequent consumption of fruits, vegetables and breakfast, and less consumption of dairy products and high-energy-density food. The present study has provided evidence on the associations between parental feeding styles and dietary patterns of Hong Kong pre-school children from a reasonably large population. Parents should avoid instrumental and emotional feeding, and implement control and encouragement to promote healthy food intake. Longitudinal studies and interventions on parental feeding style are required to confirm the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable consumption encompasses purchases that are intrinsically green, fairly traded products from a developing country, products that are organically grown, products that are against animal testing, and so forth. As such, the choice of sustainable consumption reflects/conveys not only purchase preference or activity but also a larger representation about choice and voice of values and lifestyles. No studies have so far examined sustainable consumption among Hong Kong consumers. The present article therefore pioneers in investigating what factors predict young educated consumers to engage in sustainable consumption in Hong Kong. Incorporating the concepts of social cognitive theory and reciprocal determinism, this article aims to illustrate the dynamic nature of sustainable consumption and to provide a more nuanced view of behavioral change. Using a sample of 801 young educated consumers, a survey has been developed and administered. Hierarchical regression analyses indicate that six factors predict Hong Kong young educated consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior in the following descending order: supportive behaviors for environmental organizations, attitude toward sustainable development efforts, parental influence, recycling behavior, peer influence, and environmental concern. The author then proposes a model that depicts the flow of influence of the top three predictors on sustainable consumption behavior. Path analysis confirms that the paths first go from supportive behaviors for environmental organizations to parental influence, which in turn facilitates attitude toward sustainable development efforts. The author concludes by outlining theoretical and practical implications for international sustainable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT. Adolescents' (N = 378) perceptions of and satisfaction with parenting styles, perceived parent-adolescent conflict, perceived frequency of parent-adolescent communication and related feelings, perceived parent-adolescent relationship, and mental health were assessed with rating scales and structured interviews on 2 occasions separated by 1 year. Results showed that the questionnaire and interview measures at each time could be grouped into 2 stable factors: Paternal Parenthood Qualities (PPQ) and Maternal Parenthood Qualities (MPQ). Although both factors generally had significant concurrent and longitudinal correlations with adolescents' mental health, PPQ at Time 1 predicted changes in adolescent life satisfaction, hopelessness, self-esteem, purpose in life, and general psychiatric morbidity at Time 2, whereas MPQ at Time 1 did not predict those changes. Adolescents' mental health at Time 1 was found to predict changes in MPQ but not PPQ at Time 2. Relative to maternal qualities, paternal qualities were generally found to exert a stronger impact on adolescent psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]