Social Work - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableExtroversion Fosters Career Competence among Adolescents in Hong Kong(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2022-06)Adolescents often feel helpless about planning their career in highly competitive societies such as Hong Kong. Relatively limited research has been conducted to examine whether being extrovert can influence adolescents’ career-related knowledge and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE). Methods: This cross-sectional study explored the relationship between extroversion, career knowledge and CDSE among 535 Hong Kong high school students based on Social Cognitive Career Theory and Trait and Factor Theory. Descriptive data analysis, correlation tests and structural equation modelling were used. Results: Study respondents displayed a low level of career knowledge and CDSE. Extroversion had a directly positive effect on CDSE (β = 0.219, p < 0.001), while career knowledge significantly mediated the relationship between extroversion and CDSE (β = 0.185, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study provided a model to understand high school adolescents’ career decision self-efficacy, and empirically supported career training interventions to enhance adolescents’ self-efficacy and confidence in being more outgoing.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableObjectification and ambiguity of body image in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A mixed-method study.(Elsevier BV, 2022-08-01)BACKGROUND: The manifestations of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), including acne, hirsutism, obesity, uncertain fertility, etc., can make women anxious, worried, or even depressed with their appearance and body. However, little relevant research has been conducted in the Chinese context. This mixed-method study aimed to understand how women with PCOS in China perceive their bodies and to examine the association between body image and depression. METHODS: First, 101 PCOS patients participated in a survey using the Body Surveillance subscale of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Short-form Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, the Appearance Anxiety Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II, which measured participants' self-objectification, illness ambiguity, appearance anxiety, and depression, respectively. Second, fifteen women joined face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews, investigating their illness ambiguity, objectified experience, and behaviors to pursue beauty. RESULTS: Results indicated a high level of self-objectification, illness ambiguity, appearance anxiety, and depression among women with PCOS in China and supported the significant associations among the outcomes. Qualitative findings presented a body image of the precarious body, indiscernible identity, and distraught mind. LIMITATIONS: A convenient sampling method was used. The generalization of the study results needs further validation. Future longitudinal studies are necessary to clarify the causal relationships among outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented women's body image with PCOS and found the negative impact of body image on their depression levels. This study was of both theoretical and practical significance. Appropriate mind-body therapies were suggested for them.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableLongitudinal study on sexual function and quality of life in infertile couples undergoing intrauterine insemination(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2023-01-14)BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies have shown that sexual dysfunction and poor quality of life were prevalent among couples undergoing assisted reproduction at specific time points, but nothing is known about how these outcomes change over the course of their intrauterine insemination (IUI) journey. AIM: We investigated the longitudinal changes in sexual function and quality of life of infertile couples undergoing IUI. METHODS: Sixty-six infertile couples completed an anonymous questionnaire at 3 time points: after IUI counseling (T1), 1 day before IUI (T2), and 2 weeks after IUI (T3). The questionnaire consisted of demographic data, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) or International Index of Erectile Function-5, and Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL). OUTCOMES: Descriptive statistics, significance testing with the Friedman test, and post hoc analysis with the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to compare changes in sexual function and quality of life at different time points. RESULTS: Overall, 18 (26.1%), 16 (23.2%), and 12 (17.4%) women and 29 (42.0%), 37 (53.6%), and 31 (44.9%) men were at risk for sexual dysfunction at T1, T2, and T3, respectively. There were significant differences in mean FSFI scores in arousal (3.87, 4.06, 4.10) and orgasm (4.15, 4.24, 4.39) domains at T1, T2, and T3. After post hoc analysis, only the increase in mean orgasm FSFI scores between T1 and T3 was statistically significant. Men's FertiQoL scores remained high during IUI (74.33-75.63 out of 100). Men also scored significantly higher than women on all FertiQoL domains except environment at the 3 time points. Post hoc analysis showed significant improvement in women's FertiQoL domain scores between T1 and T2: mind-body, environment, treatment, and total. Women's FertiQoL score at T2 for the treatment domain was also significantly higher than that at T3. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Men should not be neglected during IUI as their erectile function got worse in the process, with half of the men being affected. Although women's quality of life showed some improvement during IUI, most of their scores were lower than men's. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The use of psychometrically validated questionnaires and a longitudinal approach are the major strengths; a small sample size and the lack of a dyadic approach are the major limitations. CONCLUSION: During IUI, women's sexual performance and quality of life improved. The proportion of men having erectile problems was high for this age group, but men's FertiQoL scores remained good and were better than their partners' throughout IUI.
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ItemTime to take action on filicides in Hong Kong(Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, 2023-02)
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ItemImpact of comorbid allergic diseases on health-related quality of life of Hong Kong schoolchildren(WILEY, 2023-05)BACKGROUND: Studies on the relationship between childhood allergic disease and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have mostly been confined to a single allergic condition. Therefore, a composite allergic score (CAS) was derived to assess the accumulated effect of eczema, asthma, and allergic rhinitis on HRQOL in Hong Kong schoolchildren. METHODS: Parents of grade one/two or grade eight/nine schoolchildren completed a questionnaire assessing the prevalence and severity of eczema (POEM), asthma (C-ACT/ACT), and allergic rhinitis (VAS) and schoolchildren's HRQOL (PedsQL). Three rounds of recruitment were conducted. A total of 19 primary and 25 secondary schools agreed to participate. RESULTS: Data from 1140 caregivers of grade one/two schoolchildren and 1048 grade eight/nine schoolchildren were imputed and analyzed. The proportion of female respondents were lower in grade one/two (37.7%) but higher in grade eight/nine (57.3%). 63.8% of grade one/two and 58.1% of grade eight/nine schoolchildren reported having at least one allergic disease. In general, greater disease severity was significantly associated with lower HRQOL. After controlling for age, gender, and allergic comorbidity in hierarchical regressions, CAS significantly predicted all HRQOL outcomes in both grade one/two and grade eight/nine schoolchildren. Female grade eight/nine schoolchildren reported lower HRQOL outcomes. CONCLUSION: Composite allergic score may be a practical tool to evaluate allergic comorbidity and the effectiveness of treatments targeting common pathological mechanisms of allergic diseases. Non-pharmaceutical approaches should be considered, especially for patients with more than one allergic disease and greater severity.
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePhysical and Psychosocial Impacts of Parental Incarceration on Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review Differentiating Age of Exposure(SPRINGER INT PUBL AG, 2023-06)The externalizing and internalizing behavioral impacts of parental incarceration on their children has been widely examined. However, understanding the breadth and depth of possible negative impacts on children at different developmental stages, and whether protective factors can be identified to offset such impacts, has been limited. This review systematically reviewed 57 articles and extended the developmental outcome to six key impact themes, with some articles identifying more themes than others: behavioral (n = 34), mental health (n = 26), social relationships (n = 17), academic performance (n = 17), substance use (n = 10), and short-term and long-term physical health (n = 6). To provide a global review, this study examined research across nations from Western to Eastern countries, consisting of 126,690 children and adolescents with incarcerated parents against 577,445 peers with no parents of such histories. Most children and adolescents exposed to parental incarceration are vulnerable to mental health impacts including anxiety, behavioral issues and school performance. The earlier the exposure to parental incarceration, the greater the risk of marijuana use, sexually transmitted infection and multiple partnerships in adolescence. These challenges often continue into emerging adulthood. This review found that the well-being of parents, positive family relationships and successful co-parenting can offset some adverse impacts. Future research lines and implications for preventive support to such children, adolescents and families are discussed.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableEfficacy of a brief decisional support intervention on the decision conflict and psychosocial aspects among women with IVF failure: a randomized controlled trial(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2023-06-22)Study question: Is decisional support intervention (DSI) efficacious in reducing decisional conflict and improving mental health for women experiencing unsuccessful IVF treatment? Summary answer: Compared to controls, DSI statistically significantly increased informed decision but not depression symptoms. What is known already: Failure of IVF treatment could be an unavoidable event and a situation of low control for infertile women. The decisional conflict following unsuccessful IVF treatment could be extremely intense considering the critical issues such as the life goal of childbearing, relationships, finance, etc. Meanwhile, with great importance placed on childbearing, many patients are indulged in the treatment cycles while hesitant to consider ending the treatment or the alternatives, leading to a series of psychosocial problems. Therefore, a decisional support intervention should be considered to facilitate the decision-making and adjustment after unsuccessful IVF treatment. Study design, size, duration: A multi-centers, two-armed, randomized controlled trial, to assess the efficacy of a decisional support intervention on decisional conflict and psychosocial aspects among women who experienced failure of IVF treatment. Between May 2022 to January 2022, a total of 80 participants were randomly allocated to the DSI group or waitlist control group. Participants/materials, setting, methods: Eligible participants were women who have undergone at least one cycle of IVF treatment and failed to achieve clinical pregnancy into treatment. DSI participants received a one-hour decisional support counseling, which focused on the discussion about the pros and cons in relation to continuation and termination of treatment, family building alternatives as well as their implications. The participants completed questionnaires before treatment (T0), and after the treatment (T1). Analyses included paired sample t-tests and ANOVA. Main results and the role of chance: 40 subjects in the intervention group and 38 subjects in the control group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. The between-group effect analysis showed a significant time x group interaction in informed decision (p < 0.05), meaning that informed decision increased in the intervention group but decreased in the control group over time. There was also a marginally significant increase in perceived behavioral control (p = 0.06), as well as a decrease in decisional conflict of uncertainty (p = 0.08) and anxiety symptoms (p = 0.08). Limitations, reasons for caution: Considering the decision might be navigated by the treatment outcome, this study only measured the short-term effect after the intervention. Secondly, this study only enrolled women, who were more vulnerable to the risk of treatment failures and take a more active role in decision-making, compared to men. Wider implications of the findings: Instead of putting efforts on psychosocial intervention aiming at improving the chance of pregnancy, this study provides an efficacious brief counseling approach, tapping on patients’ existing cultural values and beliefs, to help patients ‘find the way out’ following the IVF treatment failures. Trial registration number: ChiCTR2200060238
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ItemNo Preview AvailableExamining the demographic and psychological variables associating with the childbearing intention among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023-09-03)Equality for marriage and reproduction has become a major policy agenda worldwide. Opportunities for sexual minority individuals to pursue planned parenthood through assisted reproductive technologies, adoption or surrogacy emerged only recently. Perhaps due to socio-cultural and structural barriers, sexual minority individuals consistently report lower parenthood desires and intentions than heterosexual individuals. Using a cross-sectional online survey, we examined the relationship between parenthood desire and demographic and psychosocial characteristics in a sample of 1,395 gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. Results showed that sexual orientation, relationship status, psychosocial well-being and cultural factors such as filial piety are significant predictors of parenthood desire. Implications for social work practice are discussed.
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ItemTowards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving(BMC, 2023-06-20)OBJECTIVES: A partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available. METHODS: This study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students' data. RESULTS: We identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest-posttest differences in students' readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students' social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation. CONCLUSIONS: The narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education.
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ItemStudents' interaction anxiety and social phobia in interprofessional education in Hong Kong: mapping a new research direction(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023-12-12)BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) has been promoted as a breakthrough in healthcare because of the impact when professionals work as a team. However, despite its inception dating back to the 1960s, its science has taken a long time to advance. There is a need to theorize IPE to cultivate creative insights for a nuanced understanding of IPE. This study aims to propose a research agenda on social interaction by understanding the measurement scales used and guiding researchers to contribute to the discussion of social processes in IPE. METHOD: This quantitative research was undertaken in a cross-institutional IPE involving 925 healthcare students (Medicine, Nursing, Social Work, Chinese Medicine, Pharmacy, Speech Language Pathology, Clinical Psychology, Food and Nutritional Science and Physiotherapy) from two institutions in Hong Kong. Participants completed the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS-6). We applied a construct validation approach: within-network and between-network validation. We performed confirmatory factors analysis, t-test, analysis of variance and regression analysis. RESULTS: CFA results indicated that current data fit the a priori model providing support to within-network validity [RMSEA=.08, NFI=.959, CFI=.965, IFI=.965, TLI=.955]. The criteria for acceptable fit were met. The scales were invariant between genders, across year levels and disciplines. Results indicated that social interaction anxiety and social phobia negatively predicted behavioural engagement (F = 25.093, p<.001, R2=.065) and positively predicted behavioural disaffection (F = 22.169, p<.001, R2=.057) to IPE, suggesting between-network validity. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provided support for the validity of the scales when used among healthcare students in Hong Kong. SIAS-6 and SPS-6 have sound psychometric properties based on students' data in Hong Kong. We identified quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research designs to guide researchers in getting involved in the discussion of students' social interactions in IPE.Key MessagesThe Social Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS-6) scales have sound psychometric properties based on the large-scale healthcare students' data in IPE in Hong Kong.Social interaction anxiety and social phobia negatively predicted students' behavioural engagement with IPE and positively predicted behavioural disaffection. The scales are invariant in terms of gender, year level and discipline.Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are proposed to aid researchers to contribute in healthcare education literature using the SIAS-6 and SPS-6.