Dennis W. K. Chan

Facets of Loneliness and Depression Among Chinese Children and Adolescents

The authors examined the relation among different facets of loneliness and depression in a sample of 6,356 Chinese children and adolescents from Grades 4-9. Loneliness and depression were closely related among the primary (Grades 4-6) and secondary (Grades 7-9) students, both boys and girls. Although the different facets of loneliness were predictive of the various facets of depression, peer-related loneliness and aloneness were more predictive of depression in both groups than was parent-related loneliness. The students in Grades 5 and 6 scored lower for loneliness but a little higher for depression than did the students in Grade 4. The students in Grades 8 and 9 scored higher than the students in Grade 7 for loneliness and depression. The primary boys scored higher than the primary girls for both loneliness and depression. Among the secondary students, there was no difference between the scores of the boys and those of the girls for loneliness, but the boys scored lower than the girls for depression.

Leisure education in schools from students' perspectives: the case of Hong Kong.

This paper examines the views of Hong Kong secondary school students regarding leisure education and its practices in their schools. Data were collected through questionnaires (N=401) and semi-structured interviews (N=35). Results of the study indicated gaps in students’ perceptions related to six areas of learning of leisure education in general and those applied in schools in particular, suggesting that what students experienced in school did not meet their expectations. Schools implemented leisure education through three strategies: “constraining,” “enabling and facilitating,” and “advocating and fostering,” and in various forms ranging from academic classroom teaching to out-of-class recreational activities. Students’ accounts illustrated how leisure education in their schools enhanced their knowledge, developed their skills, changed their attitudes, and consequently affected the way they went about their leisure. They regarded school leisure education practices as useful and expressed an interest in obtaining more guidelines while maintaining their freedom of choice among different activities. Findings of the study are discussed with reference to the different approaches to leisure education, the recommended ways for its implementation in schools and in the context of educational reform in Hong Kong.

A Holistic Model of Student Development: The Validation of Whole Person Development Inventory for College Students in Hong Kong

This study validated a Whole Person Development Inventory with 1,443 undergraduates. Factor analysis yielded 15 factors, namely, Intellectual-Capacity, Physical-Fitness, Health-Maintenance, Career-...