Promoting social-emotional learning in Chinese schools : a feasibility study of PATHS implementation in Hong Kong

This paper describes a pilot study of a reduced version of the PATHS Curriculum, a USdeveloped evidence-based SEL program, among schools in Hong Kong SAR (China). Three hundred and sixteen 12th grade students in three elementary schools participated in the study. A limited number of first grade PATHS lessons were adapted and translated into Chinese. Twelve teachers learned and adopted these lessons in their teaching. Students in these classrooms learned about different emotions and practiced self-control. The intervention lasted four months. After the intervention, students showed improvement in emotion understanding, emotion regulation and prosocial behavior. No change was observed in the level of children’s problem behaviors. Over 65% of the teachers reported a high degree of satisfaction and willingness to adopt the intervention. The effects of the intervention varied among schools, with variations in the level of intervention and principal support, but not in the quality of implementation. Discussion is focused on the factors that could shape the adoption and implementation of SEL programs, especially the role of the difference in school systems between Hong Kong and the United States.peer-reviewe

How do parents think about and evaluate childrearing issues?: exploring patterns of meta-parenting andtheir characteristics

published_or_final_versionPsychologyMasterMaster of Philosoph

Expressive suppression in the 2019 anti-government social unrest in Hong Kong: its association with psychological distress

Abstract Hong Kong experienced a large-scale anti-government social unrest in 2019. High levels of violence and severe vandalism were common during the unrest, which have seriously affected the psychological wellbeing of Hong Kong people. Research has shown that, during the unrest, Hong Kong people exhibited an elevated level of psychological and mental disturbances, and these disturbances are still observed after the unrest has subsided. To further illuminate how large-scale social unrests affect people’s psychological functioning, in this study we examined the association of expressive suppression, which is defined as consciously hiding and withholding one’s emotions, with psychological distress in the context of the unrest in Hong Kong. The mediating role of rumination was also explored. The study was conducted in early 2021. A sample of 84 participants who had experienced the unrest in 2019 were recruited. They completed an online questionnaire for this study. Results from path analyses revealed that expressive suppression related to the unrest was positively associated with anxiety, stress, and depressed mood, and these associations were significantly mediated by rumination. Our findings suggest expressive suppression may play an important role in accounting for the effect of socio-political turmoil on psychological disturbances, and future research should pay more attention to this variable for understanding how large-scale political and social unrests, especially those that involve serious political divides, leave their marks on civilians