This article reports a control study on the influence of a training program on attitude change towards people with mental illness. One hundred and seventeen students from 13 schools formed school-based mental health clubs, which composed the treatment group. They were given a mental health training program at different schools. The comparison group consisted of 102 secondary school students who had received no intervention. Students of both groups were assessed before the commencement, at the last session, and seven months after completion of the program with an OMICC (Opinion about Mental Illness in Chinese Community) scale developed by the authors. The study revealed significant positive changes, which could last a longer period of time, in specific attitudes on separatism and stigmatization of people with mental illness among students after the training program.

Sex differences in social attitudes have been well documented. Women hold more positive attitudes toward mental illness than men do. This paper reports on the effect of sex differences in a study of secondary school students' opinions about mental illness in Hong Kong. A total of 2,223 secondary school students, drawn by random sample, completed a 45-item questionnaire on Opinion about Mental Illness in Chinese Community (OMICC) with a six-point Likert Scale. Individual items with weak correlations were eliminated, leaving 33 items for analysis (Cronbach's Alpha = .866). Using factor analysis six factors were identified. These include: Benevolence, Separatism, Stereotyping, Restrictiveness, Pessimistic Prediction and Stigmatization. Results showed that girls scored higher regarding benevolence. Boys were found to have more stereotyping, restrictive, pessimistic and stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness.

This paper compares the findings of surveys about the attitudes of adolescent towards mental illness in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. A total of 2,223 secondary school students from Hong Kong and 1,796 middle school students from Guangzhou were drawn by multi-stage sampling method. Subjects were asked to complete a 45-item questionnaire on Opinion about Mental Illness in Chinese Community (OMICC) with a six-point Likert scale. Individual items with weak correlation were eliminated, leaving 33 items for the Hong Kong sample (Cronbach's Alpha = .866) and 29 for the Guangzhou sample (Cronbach's Alpha= .811). Five common factors were identified in the two places for comparison. Univariate t-tests showed that the sources of mental health knowledge of adolescents in the two places were different. Significant differences between the attitudes of the adolescents in the two places for the five factors (p<.001) were found. Using Chi-square tests, six items revealing significant differences (p<.001) greater than 50% between responses of agreement and disagreement in the two places were identified. It is clear that adolescents in Hong Kong are more open, humanistic and accepting of people with mental illness.with reference to the political and socio-cultural contexts of the two places and suggests ways to help adolescents develop more positive attitudes toward people with mental illness, which in turn will foster community integration.

English This article reports a pilot study on an intervention group which integrated behavioral treatment and non-pharmacological Chinese medicine to reduce the problem of insomnia for older Chinese adults. Findings showed that the six-session group intervention was effective. The highlight of each session was presented and implications for social work practice discussed. French Cet article présente les résultats d'un projet pilote en intervention de groupe, mené pour répondre aux problèmes d'insomnie de la population âgée de Hong Kong. Ce projet a fait appel à des traitements comportementaux et à la pharmacopée traditionnelle chinoise. Les résultats indiquent que les interventions de groupe ont été concluantes. On aborde également les implications pour le travail social en Chine et ailleurs. Spanish Se informa sobre un estudio piloto de una intervención de grupo para tratar los problemas de insomnio entre personas mayores en Hong Kong. Esta intervención integra los tratamientos de conducta y medicina china no farmacológica. Los resultados sugieren que la intervención de grupo fue efectiva. Se exponen las implicaciones para el trabajo social en China y en otros lugares.

This article reports an exploratory study on the effects of an integrated group program for improving the sleep quality of elderly people in Hong Kong. Elderly people aged over 55 who had obtained a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score >5 were recruited as subjects of the study. While 19 subjects of the treatment group were taking part in an integrated group program involving social group work intervention as well as Chinese medicine therapeutics, 9 subjects of comparison group received no intervention. Using a pretest and posttest design, the study revealed positive effects of the integrated group program. It has added knowledge serving the development of interventions that can help to improve the sleep quality of elderly people.