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Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to families around the world. The prolonged school closures in Hong Kong have forced young students to stay at home and adapt to remote learning for over a year, putting their mental health conditions at risk. Focusing on primary school students and their parents, the main objective of our research is to investigate the socioemotional factors and their associations with mental health conditions. Methods A total of 700 Hong Kong primary schoolers (mean age = 8.2) reported their emotional experiences, loneliness, and academic self-concept via a user-friendly online survey; 537 parents reported depression and anxiety, perceived child depression and anxiety, and social support. Responses from students and parents were paired to account for the family context. Structural Equation Modeling was used for correlations and regressions. Results The results of students’ responses showed that positive emotional experiences were negatively associated with loneliness and positively related to academic self-concept among students. Furthermore, the paired sample results showed that, during the one-year societal lockdown and remote learning period, the socioemotional factors were associated with mental health conditions among primary school students and their parents. Among our family sample in Hong Kong, evidence supports the unique negative association between students-reported positive emotional experiences and parents-reported child depression and anxiety, as well as between social support and parents’ depression and anxiety. Conclusions These findings highlighted the associations between socioemotional factors and mental health among young primary schoolers during the societal lockdown. We thus call for more attention to the societal lockdown and remote learning context, especially since the social distancing practice could be “the new normal” for our society to handle the future pandemic crisis.

With increasing attention on sibling relationship studies in China, one problem that has been neglected is the limited validation of instruments used to assess these relationships. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Sibling Inventory of Behavior to measure Chinese children’s sibling relationships using a stratified random sample of 590 parents of three- to six-year-olds in three economic regions. The confirmatory factor analysis obtained an adequate fit, suggesting that the Chinese version of the instrument had a six-factor structure (i.e., Companionship, Empathy, Teaching, Rivalry, Aggression, and Avoidance). It demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency as well as test–retest reliability. Results of discriminant, convergent, and criterion-related validity test also fulfilled psychometric requirements. Furthermore, the residual measurement invariance across regions was discovered. Given the importance, emergence, and tendency of sibling studies in China, having a reliable and valid instrument with robust psychometric properties is essential and impactful.

In this study, the original Handwriting Proficiency Screening Questionnaire (HPSQ) was translated into Thai and cross-culturally adapted for use among school-aged children in Thailand. Additionally, the initial psychometric properties of the new Thai version were assessed, including internal consistency, construct validity, and content validity. The original HPSQ was forward-translated by two independent translators from English to Thai and then back-translated. A final consolidation was conducted by an expert committee to develop the Thai HPSQ. In the psychometric evaluation, content validity was quantified using the item-objective congruence (IOC) value for each item. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilities were also assessed. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and confirmatory factor analysis models were used to examine its construct validity. The Thai version of the HPSQ had excellent internal consistency (α = 0.92), good construct, and content validity (IOC value > 0.6). Intra-rater reliability was good (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.98), and inter-rater reliability ranged from fair to good (ICC = 0.46−0.77). Factor analysis revealed that a three-factor model best fitted the data. Thus, the Thai version of the HPSQ is a reliable and valid instrument for handwriting evaluation among Thai school-aged children. It can be useful for teachers and therapists to identify students with handwriting problems.

With increasing attention on the role of parenting stress on family functioning and children’s development, one area that has been neglected is how such relations differ across cultures. Although sometimes viewed as homogeneous, Asian countries often have markedly different belief systems. Cross-cultural studies require instruments that have been validated in different socio-cultural contexts. The widely used parenting stress index-short form (PSI-SF) has been used in several locations. However, results regarding its factorial structure have been mixed. Furthermore, there are only a few cross-cultural comparison studies. This study examined the factorial structure of an abridged version of the PSI-SF with data from Hong Kong (N = 258) and Thailand (N = 190). The results from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that, in both cultures, a three-factorial structure provides the best model fit. Furthermore, we found evidence for partial metric invariance, suggesting that the test scores can be compared directly. Tests for convergent and discriminant validity revealed that the three factors were correlated with parent general distress, authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting behaviors, in both cultures. These findings suggest that the abridged PSI-SF can provide a meaningful comparison of parenting stress between Hong Kong and Thailand.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families worldwide are confined in their homes for an extended period of time due to social distancing. Conducted between April and July of 2021, the current study examined the impact of household crowdedness during school closure on parents’ COVID-related stress and young children's problem behaviors in Hong Kong, one of the world's most densely populated cities. Parents of 228 young children between 3- to 5-year-old reported their household living condition, parents’ COVID-related stress, and their children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors through an online survey. The result revealed that household crowdedness was predictive of parents’ COVID-related. Furthermore, parents’ COVID-related stress significantly mediated the associations between household crowdedness and children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, controlling for family socioeconomic status. The study contributed to the growing research on the impact of the physical living environment as part of the ecological systems on family and child functioning. In time of crisis, young children rely on schools to support their development and wellbeing. The current findings caution the decision of school closure.

This study examines the development of children's social skills during the crucial transition from kindergarten to grade school. It explores the long-term connection between parenting styles and children's social skills. This study conducted a three-year longitudinal survey involving 121 children and their parents. The results show that early authoritative parenting styles were significant positive associated with children's social skills in second grade, and early authoritarian parenting styles were significant negative associated with children's social skills in second grade. Child-parent relationship closeness and receptive language skills mediate the association between early parenting styles and second-grade children's social skills. We propose that improving the closeness of the child-parent relationship and enhancing children's receptive language skills could effectively enhance children's social skills. This provides theoretical support for intervention programmes aimed at improving children's social skills.