Developing community-based preventive interventions in Hong Kong: a description of the first phase of the family project

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper describes the development of culturally-appropriate family-based interventions and their relevant measures, to promote family health, happiness and harmony in Hong Kong. Programs were developed in the community, using a collaborative approach with community partners. The development process, challenges, and the lessons learned are described. This experience may be of interest to the scientific community as there is little information currently available about community-based development of brief interventions with local validity in cultures outside the West.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The academic-community collaborative team each brought strengths to the development process and determined the targets for intervention (parent-child relationships). Information from expert advisors and stakeholder discussion groups was collected and utilized to define the sources of stress in parent-child relationships.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Themes emerged from the literature and discussion groups that guided the content of the intervention. Projects emphasized features that were appropriate for this cultural group and promoted potential for sustainability, so that the programs might eventually be implemented at a population-wide level. Challenges included ensuring local direction, relevance and acceptability for the intervention content, engaging participants and enhancing motivation to make behavior changes after a brief program, measurement of behavior changes, and developing an equal partner relationship between academic and community staff.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This work has public health significance because of the global importance of parent-child relationships as a risk-factor for many outcomes in adulthood, the need to develop interventions with strong evidence of effectiveness to populations outside the West, the potential application of our interventions to universal populations, and characteristics of the interventions that promote dissemination, including minimal additional costs for delivery by community agencies, and high acceptability to participants.</p

Policy and prevention approaches for disordered and hazardous gaming and internet use: an international perspective

Problems related to high levels of gaming and Internet usage are increasingly recognized as a potential public health burden across the developed world. The aim of this review was to present an international perspective on prevention strategies for Internet gaming disorder and related health conditions (e.g., Internet addiction), as well as hazardous gaming and Internet use. A systematic review of quantitative research evidence was conducted, followed by a search of governmental reports, policy and position statements, and health guidelines in the last decade. The regional scope included the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Prevention studies have mainly involved school-based programs to train healthier Internet use habits in adolescents. The efficacy of selective prevention is promising but warrants further empirical attention. On an international scale, the formal recognition of gaming or Internet use as a disorder or as having quantifiable harms at certain levels of usage has been foundational to developing structured prevention responses. The South Korean model, in particular, is an exemplar of a coordinated response to a public health threat, with extensive government initiatives and long-term strategic plans at all three levels of prevention (i.e., universal, selective, and indicated). Western regions, by comparison, are dominated by prevention approaches led by non-profit organizations and private enterprise. The future of prevention of gaming and Internet problems ultimately relies upon all stakeholders working collaboratively in the public interest, confronting the reality of the evidence base and developing practical, ethical, and sustainable countermeasures

Problematic Internet Use in High School Students in Guangdong Province, China

BACKGROUND: Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is a growing problem in Chinese adolescents. There are many risk factors for PIU, which are found at school and at home. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of PIU and to investigate the potential risk factors for PIU among high school students in China. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 14,296 high school students were surveyed in four cities in Guangdong province. Problematic Internet Use was assessed by the 20-item Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT). Information was also collected on demographics, family and school-related factors and Internet usage patterns. Of the 14,296 students, 12,446 were Internet users. Of those, 12.2% (1,515) were identified as problematic Internet users (PIUs). Generalized mixed-model regression revealed that there was no gender difference between PIUs and non-PIUs. High study-related stress, having social friends, poor relations with teachers and students and conflictive family relationships were risk factors for PIU. Students who spent more time on-line were more likely to develop PIU. The habits of and purposes for Internet usage were diverse, influencing the susceptibility to PIU. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: PIU is common among high school students, and risk factors are found at home and at school. Teachers and parents should pay close attention to these risk factors. Effective measures are needed to prevent the spread of this problem

Psychometric testing of three Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among Hong Kong university students

Objective: To validate the Chinese version of the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scales- Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) among Hong Kong university students. Participants and Methods: Participants aged between 17 and 30 years participated in the present study (n=307; 32.4% males; mean [SD] age=21.64 [8.11]). All the participants completed the IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, SABAS, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were used to examine the factorial structures and the unidimensionality for IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS. Results: CFAs demonstrated that the three scales were all unidimensional with satisfactory fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.969 to 0.992. In addition, the IGDS-SF9 and BSMAS were slightly modified based on the modification index in CFA. Conclusions: The Chinese IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS are valid instruments to assess the addiction levels of internet-related activities for Hong Kong university students