Parenting approaches, family functionality, and internet addiction among Hong Kong adolescents

© 2016 Wu et al. Background: Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents has become a global health problem, and public awareness of it is increasing. Many IA risk factors relate to parents and the family environment. This study examined the relationship between IA and parenting approaches and family functionality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 2021 secondary students to identify the prevalence of IA and to explore the association between adolescent IA and familial variables, including parents' marital status, family income, family conflict, family functionality, and parenting approaches. Results: The results revealed that 25.3 % of the adolescent respondents exhibited IA, and logistic regression positively predicted the IA of adolescents from divorced families, low-income families, families in which family conflict existed, and severely dysfunctional families. Interestingly, adolescents with restricted Internet use were almost 1.9 times more likely to have IA than those whose use was not restricted. Conclusions: Internet addiction is common among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong, and family-based prevention strategies should be aligned with the risk factors of IA.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Association between screen viewing duration and sleep duration, Sleep quality, And excessive daytime sleepiness among adolescents in Hong Kong

© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Screen viewing is considered to have adverse impacts on the sleep of adolescents. Although there has been a considerable amount of research on the association between screen viewing and sleep, most studies have focused on specific types of screen viewing devices such as televisions and computers. The present study investigated the duration w ith which currently prevalent screen viewing devices (including televisions, personal computers, mobile phones, and portable video devices) are viewed in relation to sleep duration, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness among Hong Kong adolescents (N = 762). Television and computer viewing remain prevalent, but were not correlated with sleep variables. Mobile phone viewing was correlated with all sleep variables, while portable video device viewing was shown to be correlated only with daytime sleepiness. The results demonstrated a trend of increase in the prevalence and types of screen viewing and their effects on the sleep patterns of adolescents.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Service learning and school community partnership

Background Service learning offered university students the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in social care context while strengthening community health. This paper aimed at highlighting the essential features of the program in achieving sustainable outcomes. Project design and methods Students from different faculty, worked as a team to address the health issues of a less resourceful school. The students were required to plan and develop the related resources and products for matching the learning needs. Through the implementation, students shifted from following an instructive guide to acting on a more self-directed learning process at different stages of service. The health promotion programs could include nutritious breakfast, adequate exercises, healthy beverages and interpersonal communication. Efficacy of the service learning was assessed by the pre and post service survey on the attainment of generic skills of interpersonal effectiveness, problem solving, social responsibility and teamwork. Impact of the service was evaluated by the pre and post program testing. Individual learning experience was collected by the reflective journal writing. Significance and implication School community plays a major role in providing a healthy learning environment for children and adolescents. With the input of subject knowledge and field practice, faculty students attained improvement in generic skills. The school participants increased health knowledge and the importance of healthier lifestyle was reinforced. Both parties owned the program materials for the continuity of practice. The partnership creates initiatives of applying health-promoting school concepts. This project work also built up the ground work for a feasible framework of school health service and practice

School safety and children health in a post-disaster community: Implications to collaborative care and service learning in school health

AbstractObjectivesTo explore the impact of the Lushan earthquake on the schoolchildren's health and learning environment after 2 months of the earthquake and to collect children health information and identify school environmental health risks.MethodsThis was an explorative single-case study. The case was defined as the two primary schools affected by the earthquake on 20th April, 2013 and relocated in a rebuilt temporary classroom. This study collaborated with Department of Social Work, Sichuan Agricultural University located in Ya'an. With the support from the above social work station, 448 school-age children from the affected Majun and Gonghe primary schools were invited to participate in this study from July 1 to 2, 2013. Finally, 187 children participated. Data were collected through structured questionnaire, field observation and the social work station's report and analyzed by using descriptive analysis and qualitative content analysis.ResultsOne hundred and eighty-seven school-age children participated in this study. Participants' demographic characteristics showed that around half of the subjects (89; 47.6%) were male. Majority were aged 10 or above (114; 61%) and in grades 4–6 (108; 57.7%), whereas only 7% (13) were preschool children. Near three quarters (134.0; 71.7%) children were not living with their parents. School environmental health risks were identified including public health and school building risks.ConclusionsOne hundred and eighty-seven school-age children in two primary schools were involved in this study. Baseline data for children's health status were obtained and the school health risks were identified. The findings suggested that it would be vital to develop collaborative care and service learning model to enhance children health and school safety in a disaster-prone community

The influence of weather on health-related help-seeking behavior of senior citizens in Hong Kong

© 2014, ISB. It is believed that extreme hot and cold weather has a negative impact on general health conditions. Much research focuses on mortality, but there is relatively little community health research. This study is aimed at identifying high-risk groups who are sensitive to extreme weather conditions, in particular, very hot and cold days, through an analysis of the health-related help-seeking patterns of over 60,000 Personal Emergency Link (PE-link) users in Hong Kong relative to weather conditions. In the study, 1,659,716 PE-link calls to the help center were analyzed. Results showed that females, older elderly, people who did not live alone, non-subsidized (relatively high-income) users, and those without medical histories of heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and diabetes were more sensitive to extreme weather condition. The results suggest that using official government weather forecast reports to predict health-related help-seeking behavior is feasible. An evidence-based strategic plan could be formulated by using a method similar to that used in this study to identify high-risk groups. Preventive measures could be established for protecting the target groups when extreme weather conditions are forecasted.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Beliefs and knowledge about vaccination against AH1N1pdm09 infection and uptake factors among Chinese parents

Vaccination against AH1N1pdm09 infection (human swine infection, HSI) is an effective measure of preventing pandemic infection, especially for high-risk groups like children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. This study used a cross-sectional correlation design and aimed to identify predicting factors of parental acceptance of the HSI vaccine (HSIV) and uptake of the vaccination by their preschool-aged children in Hong Kong. A total of 250 parents were recruited from four randomly selected kindergartens. A self-administered questionnaire based on the health belief framework was used for data collection. The results showed that a number of factors significantly affected the tendency toward new vaccination uptake; these factors included parental age, HSI vaccination history of the children in their family, preferable price of the vaccine, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and motivating factors for taking new vaccines. Using these factors, a logistic regression model with a high Nagelkerke R 2 of 0.63 was generated to explain vaccination acceptance. A strong correlation between parental acceptance of new vaccinations and the motivating factors of vaccination uptake was found, which indicates the importance of involving parents in policy implementation for any new vaccination schemes. Overall, in order to fight against pandemics and enhance vaccination acceptance, it is essential for the government to understand the above factors determining parental acceptance of new vaccinations for their preschool-aged children. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Correlates of protective motivation theory (PMT) to adolescents' drug use intention

Early onset and increasing proliferation of illicit adolescent drug-use poses a global health concern. This study aimed to examine the correlation between Protective Motivation Theory (PMT) measures and the intention to use drugs among adolescents. An exploratory quantitative correlation design and convenience sampling were adopted. A total of 318 students completed a self-reported questionnaire that solicited information related to their demographics and activities, measures of threat appraisal and coping appraisal, and the intention to use drugs. Logistic regression analysis showed that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards were significant predictors of intention. The odds ratios were equal to 2.90 (p < 0.05) and 8.04 (p < 0.001), respectively. The logistic regression model analysis resulted in a high Nagelkerke R 2 of 0.49, which suggests that PMT related measures could be used in predicting drug use intention among adolescents. Further research should be conducted with non-school adolescents to confirm the application. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Parenting approaches and digital technology use of preschool age children in a Chinese community

Background: Young children are using digital technology (DT) devices anytime and anywhere, especially with the invention of smart phones and the replacement of desktop computers with digital tablets. Although research has shown that parents play an important role in fostering and supporting preschoolers' developing maturity and decisions about DT use, and in protecting them from potential risk due to excessive DT exposure, there have been limited studies conducted in Hong Kong focusing on parent-child DT use. This study had three objectives: 1) to explore parental use of DTs with their preschool children; 2) to identify the DT content that associated with child behavioral problems; and 3) to investigate the relationships between approaches adopted by parents to control children's DT use and related preschooler behavioral problems. Methods. This exploratory quantitative study was conducted in Hong Kong with 202 parents or guardians of preschool children between the ages of 3 and 6 attending kindergarten. The questionnaire was focused on four aspects, including 1) participants' demographics; 2) pattern of DT use; 3) parenting approach to manage the child's DT use; and 4) child behavioral and health problems related to DT use. Multiple regression analysis was adopted as the main data analysis method for identifying the DT or parental approach-related predictors of the preschooler behavioral problems. Results: In the multiple linear regression model, the 'restrictive approach score' was the only predictor among the three parental approaches (B:1.66, 95% CI: [0.21, 3.11], p < 0.05). Moreover, the viewing of antisocial behavior cartoons by children also significantly increased the tendency of children to have behavioral problem (B:3.84, 95% CI: [1.66, 6.02], p < 0.01). Conclusions: Since preschool children's cognitive and functional abilities are still in the developmental stage, parents play a crucial role in fostering appropriate and safe DT use. It is suggested that parents practice a combination of restrictive, instructive and co-using approaches, rather than a predominately restrictive approach, to facilitate their child's growth and development. Further studies are needed to explore the parent-child relationship and parents' self-efficacy when managing the parent-child DT use, to develop strategies to guide children in healthy DT use. © 2014 WU et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex