Eddie Ng

“Social Jetlag” in Morning-Type College Students Living On Campus: Implications for Physical and Psychological Well-being

Although on-campus residence allows easier access to campus facilities, existing studies showed mixed results regarding the relationship between college residence and students’ well-being indicators, such as sleep behaviors and mood. There was also a lack of studies investigating the role of chronotype in the relationship between on-campus residence and well-being. In particular, the temporal relationships among these factors were unclear. Hence, this longitudinal study aims to fill in these gaps by first reporting the well-being (measured in terms of mood, sleep, and quality of life) among students living on and off campus across two academic semesters. We explored factors predicting students’ dropout in university residences. Although students living on campus differ in their chronotypes, activities in campus residence (if any) are mostly scheduled in the nighttime. We therefore tested if individual differences in chronotype interact with campus residence in affecting well-being. Our final sample consisted of 215 campus residents and 924 off-campus-living students from 10 different universities or colleges in Hong Kong or Macau. Their mean age was 20.2 years (SD = 2.3); 6.5% of the participants are female. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires online on their sleep duration, sleep quality, chronotype, mood, and physical and psychological quality of life. Across two academic semesters, we assessed if students living on and off campus differed in our well-being measures after we partialed out the effects of demographic information (including age, sex, family income, and parents’ education) and the well-being measures at baseline (T1). The results showed that, campus residents exhibited longer sleep duration, greater sleep efficiency, better sleep quality, and less feeling of stress than off-campus-living students. From one semester to the next, around 10% of campus residents did not continue to live on campus. Logistic regression showed that a morning type was the strongest factor predicting dropout from campus residence. Chronotype significantly moderated the effects of campus residence on participants’ physical and psychological quality of life. Although morning-type off-campus-living students have better well-being than their evening-type peers living off campus, morning-type campus residents had worse well-being than other campus residents and they were more likely to discontinue living on campus after one semester. Our findings bear practical significance to college management that morning-type campus residents are shown to be experiencing deteriorating well-being. The authorities may need to review and revise the room-allocation policy in campus residence in improving the well-being among campus residents.

“Faith Maturity Scale” for Chinese: A Revision and Construct Validation

Using a large sample of Chinese Christians (n = 2,196), we examined the internal structure, reliability, and validity of the Faith Maturity Scale (FMS). Despite its being developed in North America, and for a mainline Protestant population, the FMS was shown to have validity among non-Western, non-mainline Protestants. There is convergent validity with self-reported religious practices and a belief measure of religiosity. Our analyses also confirmed good construct validity with the Big Five personality dimensions, social axioms, attributional style, and quality of life. FMS remained associated with religious practices and high quality of life after personality was statistically controlled. Findings supported that the Chinese version of the FMS assesses the same theoretical construct as does the original scale and that the distinction between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of faith maturity is meaningful.

Proactive Aging and Intergenerational Mentoring Program to Promote the Well-Being of Older Adults: Pilot Studies

Proactive aging and intergenerational programs are becoming important for two major reasons. First, the aging population underscores the importance of creating opportunities for older adults to continue engaging in society. Second, there is an increasing need to develop sustainable means to assist older adults in need. The present project describes two innovative pilot studies on the well-being of older adults: (1) a psychoeducational program on proactive aging for senior citizens; (2) an intergenerational mentoring program for university students in which non-frail older adults pair up with students to provide support to the frail elderly. The outcomes of the interventions suggest enhanced psychological and social well-being of the older adults and students. The project will have important implications for developing long-term community and university partnerships as well as multi-modal psychoeducational materials to sustain the initiative after completion of the project.

A review of features and outcomes of the Hong Kong Child Development Fund

Highlighting the policy background and programme innovations of the HKD 300 million Child Development Fund Pioneer Projects, this article presents results from a quasi-experimental study of 750 adolescents in the first-batch projects. The projects combine a matched-savings programme, a mentorship programme and personal development plans. These features demonstrate the impact of financial and non-financial assets developed over a three-year period, so that participating children are more likely to leave poverty in the long term. Findings are largely positive, showing a high rate of saving completions and identifying programme effects on life-goal planning. Reciprocal and mutual trust between mentor and mentee are associated with adolescent psychosocial development. Furthermore, the community becomes more prepared to use an asset-building approach to alleviate intergenerational poverty. Nevertheless, the results suggest that training and support for mentors and financial literacy for parents need to be strengthened to increase the programmes influence.

Community-building: a strategy to address inequality of health in Australia.

Given the improvements in the health of Australians in recent decades, not all sectors of populations have benefited equally. Inequality and poverty are major problems. Traditional hierarchical, top—down governance seems ineffective to address these complex problems. An innovative and more participatory community-based approach is called for to address these issues. Community-building approaches, characterized by wide-ranging community involvement, emphasizing strength and collaboration, can be a good vehicle and intervention strategy to address the poverty problem by empowering both the individual and the community. The relevance of the community-building approach to the poverty issue and Australian context is discussed.

Goals and Life Satisfaction of Hong Kong Chinese Older Adults

Like other well-developed countries, Hong Kong is facing the challenges and opportunities posed by an aging population as well as a new wave of the younger old who are relatively healthy and well resourced. Participation in meaningful and purposeful activities, as well as social engagement, have often been promoted as gold standards of optimal or successful aging in both local and international arenas. Striving for goals provides individuals’ lives with meaning and a sense of purpose. With the increasingly active role of the growing population of older adults in society, it is essential to understand how the possible variations in goal fulfillment can affect successful aging. Using regression analysis, this study investigated the relationship between successful attainment of life goals and life satisfaction of 254 participants recruited from various community centers in Hong Kong. Preliminary analysis suggested that, compared with their older counterparts, the younger old found the fulfillment of achievement and affiliation goals to be relatively more important to life satisfaction. Conversely, results suggested that for the old old the fulfillment of an altruism goal was more important to life satisfaction. These findings can have implications for developing and tailoring services to meet the different needs of goal pursuit with a view to enhancing the well-being and life satisfaction of older adults of different age groups. The study may also have implications for training/retraining in relationship to the employment/re-employment of older workers.

Meta Paths and Meta Structures: Analysing Large Heterogeneous Information Networks

A heterogeneous information network (HIN) is a graph model in which objects and edges are annotated with types. Large and complex databases, such as YAGO and DBLP, can be modeled as HINs. A fundamental problem in HINs is the computation of closeness, or relevance, between two HIN objects. Relevance measures, such as PCRW, PathSim, and HeteSim, can be used in various applications, including information retrieval, entity resolution, and product recommendation. These metrics are based on the use of meta-paths, essentially a sequence of node classes and edge types between two nodes in a HIN. In this tutorial, we will give a detailed review of meta-paths, as well as how they are used to define relevance. In a large and complex HIN, retrieving meta paths manually can be complex, expensive, and error-prone. Hence, we will explore systematic methods for finding meta paths. In particular, we will study a solution based on the Query-by-Example (QBE) paradigm, which allows us to discover meta-paths in an effective and efficient manner.

Introduction: Mental Health of Older Adults in Asia

Population aging is taking place in nearly all the countries of the world. The number of older persons (aged 60 years or over) is expected to more than double, from 841 million people in 2013 to more than 2 billion in 2050. Older persons are projected to exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047. The projections show that older persons will be increasingly concentrated in the developing regions of the world. By 2050, nearly 8 in 10 of the world’s older population will live in developing regions like Asia, and in particular, China. We will also see an increase from 12.4% to 28.1% in the proportion aged 60 years or older, from 2010 to 2040 (United Nations, 2013). Due to better health care and nutrition as well as improved economic standing, a larger proportion of this age cohort is also likely to remain healthier as they age. We are also witnessing the emergence of a new segment of the older adult population, one comprised of elders who are predominantly healthy and financially stable. The widely adopted definitions of successful and active aging underscored that the multi-dimensional understanding of well-being covers physical, psychological and social dimensions, highlighting the need for a healthy lifestyle, maintaining high functioning levels as well as active social engagement (e.g., World Health Organization, 2002). An aging population has immense social and economic consequences when countries are unprepared. Thus, it will be a prime time for the practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers to work out innovative solutions to the problem. In some developing countries, poverty is high among older persons. At the same time, the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and disability increases as the population ages. The demand for services consumed by older adults (such as health care) will increase sharply while the base of employed workers and taxpayers to pay for this rising expenditure decreases in absolute and relative numbers. On a more positive note, a

Personnel Psychology for Disaster Response and Recovery

Relief and rebuilding work after disasters involves a more extensive effort than traditionally assumed. It is more than the distribution of food and medical supplies. Workers will include people from relief agencies as well as from the local community. Compared to the general population, these people are more susceptible to psychological risk. It is agreed that proper selection and training are essential to protect them and to ensure work effectiveness. The reasons are discussed and elaborated in the first section. In the second part, we describe the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics essential to this kind of work, and recommend that we start developing instruments for personnel selection. In the third part, we review training programmes for aid workers, and propose future directions. Finally, we identify a few areas in which industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists can make valuable contributions.

University Social Responsibility (USR): Insight from the Historical Roots to the Contemporary Challenges

The relationship between higher education (HE) and the wider society is dynamic but poorly understood. This chapter aims to provide a brief historical account of the development of higher education. In particular, multiple roles and functions are identified to highlight the dynamic interplay between higher education and the societal need and development. Then we examine the changing nature of higher education and the globalization challenges facing contemporary higher education. Drawing on the historical roots of higher education, we summarize key insights based on the current review and propose how the university can maintain its intellectual endeavors while fulfilling its social mission.