Sandra Tsang

Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Among Chinese Families

Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of Parent—Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) among Chinese parents and children in Hong Kong with significant behavior problems. Method: The participants (intervention group, 48; comparison group, 62) completed questionnaires on child behavior problems and parenting stress before and after intervention. Results: Univariate analysis of covariance, with preintervention scores as covariates, showed the intervention group participants reported fewer child behavior problems and parenting stress postintervention than the comparison group participants. The observational data demonstrated a decrease in inappropriate child-management strategies and an increase in positive parenting practices following intervention. The intervention group participants generally maintained the changes 3 to 6 months after program completion. Conclusions: Cultural issues related to PCIT and culturally appropriate intervention strategies were discussed.

Self-Efficacy as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

Self-efficacy denotes peoples beliefs about their ability to perform in different situations. It functions as a multilevel and multifaceted set of beliefs that influence how people feel, think, motivate themselves, and behave during various tasks. Self-efficacy beliefs are informed by enactive attainment, vicarious experience, imaginal experiences, and social persuasion as well as physical and emotional states. These beliefs are mediated by cognitive, motivational, affective, and selection processes to generate actual performance. Self-efficacy development is closely intertwined with a persons experiences, competencies, and developmental tasks in different domains at different stages in life. This paper reviews the literature to outline the definition and theoretical conceptualizations of the construct originally devised by Bandura that have flourished since the 1990s. Drawing from the studies of the construct to assess self-efficacy, and to inform positive youth development, the paper will present the determinants of the development of self-efficacy beliefs and identify the connection between self-efficacy and adolescent developmental outcomes. The paper will conclude with strategies to enhance youth self-efficacy and proposals for future research directions.

Reliability and factor structure of the chinese ghq-30 for parents with preschool mentally handicapped children

The Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) was administered to 381 parents of preschool mentally handicapped children, along with other instruments that assessed their stress, mental health, coping styles, and care-giving patterns. The GHQ-30 was found to have high internal consistency as a scale and high item-total correlations for most of the items. Factor analysis with a four-factor solution showed that four factors were abstracted from the scale, namely, anxiety, depression, interpersonal dysfunctioning, and inadequate coping. It also was found that the factors extracted could be reproduced reliably in two random subsamples and that the factor structure derived from the present sample corresponds to the previously reported data on the dimensionality of the Chinese GHQ-30.

Effects of chronic ketamine use on frontal and medial temporal cognition

BACKGROUND Recreational ketamine use has been on the rise worldwide. Previous studies have demonstrated that it disrupts various memory systems, but few studies have examined how it affects learning and frontal functioning. The present study investigates the effects of repeated ketamine self-administration on frontal fluency, attention, learning, and memory along the verbal/nonverbal axis. METHODS Twenty-five ketamine users and 30 healthy controls took a battery of neuropsychological tests. Frontal fluency was measured by the Verbal Fluency Test for semantic organization ability and the Figural Fluency Test for nonverbal executive functioning. Learning and memory were measured with the Chinese Auditory-Verbal Learning Test for acquisition and retention abilities of verbal information, as well as with the Continuous Visual Memory Test for nonverbal information. Participants also took several tests tapping subdomains of attention. To test for the potential effects of other drug use, 10 polydrug controls were included for comparison with the ketamine users and healthy controls. RESULTS Ketamine users had impaired verbal fluency, cognitive processing speed, and verbal learning. Verbal learning impairment was strongly correlated with estimated lifetime ketamine use. Ketamine users showed no impairments in figural fluency, sustained attention, selective attention, visual learning, or verbal/nonverbal memory. However, heavier lifetime ketamine use was significantly correlated with deficits in verbal memory (both immediate recall and delayed recall) and visual recognition memory. Deficits in cognitive processing speed and verbal learning persisted even after polydrug controls were included in the control group, but their inclusion did make the impairment in verbal fluency barely reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that repeated ketamine use causes differential impairment to multiple domains of frontal and medial temporal functioning, possibly specific to verbal information processing.

The Efficacy of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Chinese Families: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the efficacy of the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in Hong Kong Chinese families, using randomized controlled trial design. Methods: The participants included 111 Hong Kong Chinese parents with children aged 2–7 years old, who were randomized into the intervention group (n = 54) and control group (n = 57). The participants were requested to complete a set of questionnaires on child behavior problems and parenting before and after intervention. They were also assessed by PCIT therapists using Dyadic Parent–Child Interaction Coding System: Abbreviated Version (3rd edition) before and after intervention. Results: The results indicated significant decrease in child behavior problems, parenting stress, negative emotions, negative parenting practices, and increase in positive parenting practices in the intervention group, compared with the control group. Conclusion: The results provided encouraging evidence that the PCIT was effective with Hong Kong Chinese families.

Outcome Evaluation of the Hands-On Parent Empowerment (HOPE) Program

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the HOPE program. Participants included 120 Chinese new immigrant parents with preschool children in Hong Kong from 13 preschools which were randomized into intervention group (HOPE) and comparison group (6-session parent education program). Parent participants completed measures on child behavior, parenting stress, social support and self-efficacy before and after intervention. The children were assessed on the WPPSI-R and receptive vocabulary before and after parent intervention. Results indicated significant decrease in post-intervention child behavior problems and parenting stress and increase in social support in the intervention group, compared with the comparison group. Implications for service delivery for parents of preschool children were discussed.

The Chinese Parental Stress Scale: Psychometric Evidence Using Rasch Modeling on Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Parental Stress Scale (PSS; Berry & Jones, 1995) with Chinese parents. Participants included 162 parents recruited through primary schools and 38 parents with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Rasch analysis results indicated that 2 items were outside the accepted fit statistics range and that the Likert scale response categories were not functioning properly. We identified a reduced 16-item scale with 5 categories as unidimensional, with a person reliability of .86; the Likert scale response categories worked well. The revised PSS correlated with measures of child behavior and parenting stress and could differentiate between the 2 groups of parents.

Development and validation of a positive youth development scale in \ Hong Kong

The development of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) is outlined in this paper. The CPYDS assesses 15 aspects of positive youth development, including bonding, resilience, social competence, emotional competence, cognitive competence, moral competence, behavioral competence, self-determination, self-efficacy, spirituality, positive view of the future, positive self-identity, prosocial involvement, prosocial norms, and recognition for positive behavior. Based on a Well Adjustment Group (N=162) and a Poor Adjustment Group (N=264), the present findings showed that the CPYDS and its subscales possess acceptable internal consistency. Except the Self-Efficacy Subscale, the CPYDS total and subscale scores were able to discriminate the two groups. While the CPYDS total and subscale scores were positively related to thriving, wellness assessment and life satisfaction measures, they were negatively related to substance abuse, delinquency, and behavioral intention to engage in problem behavior. The present findings provide support for the reliability and validity of the CPYDS to assess positive youth development in the Chinese culture.

Positive Identity as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

Identity is a core construct in psychology because it refers to how a person addresses issues dealing with who that person is. Important theorists studying the concept of identity, like Erikson, Marcia, and Higgins, assert that identity is organized,is learned, and is dynamic, and a subjective evaluation of an individuals identity has emotional consequences for that individual. Adolescents who can cultivate a clear and positive identity after their developmental struggles during adolescence often advance more smoothly into adulthood. This paper reviews literature on the nature and structure of identity and examines its importance on adolescent developmental outcomes. It traces significant determinants of identity and proposes strategies for cultivation of positive identity. Observations on current research gaps in the study of identity and future research directions will also be discussed.

Self-Determination as a Psychological and Positive Youth Development Construct

This paper presents a review of self-determination as a positive youth development construct. The definition and conceptualization of the concept are examined from the perspective of self-determination theory and the functional theory of self-determination. Theories of self-determination from the perspective of motivation and skills enhancement are examined. Factors contributing to self-determination, such as autonomy-supportive teaching and parenting style, culture, efficacy of intervention programmes, and the educational benefits of self-determination for students, are discussed. Strategies to promote self-determination in an educational context and implications for further research and practice are discussed.