Prevalence and Correlates of Mental Health of University Students in Hong Kong: What Happened One Year After the Occurrence of COVID-19?

Shek, Daniel T. L.; Dou, Diya; Zhu, Xiaoqin

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.857147

Cited by 24 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Second, because of social unrest and COVID-19, Hong Kong university students actually experience "cumulative stresses." Third, Hong Kong people are facing many stressors under COVID-19, such as having stressful online classes because of the tight living space in Hong Kong (8). Consistent with the literature, financial difficulty is a risk factor for depression among university students.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…First, the mental health problems of university students in Hong Kong have been alarming historically ( 20 ). Second, because of social unrest and COVID-19, Hong Kong university students actually experience “cumulative stresses.” Third, Hong Kong people are facing many stressors under COVID-19, such as having stressful online classes because of the tight living space in Hong Kong ( 8 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research Question 3: What is the relationship between need satisfaction and depressive symptoms among university students in Hong Kong? With reference to Shek et al (8) we expected that there would be a negative relationship between these two domains (Hypothesis 2).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…According to Shek et al ( 8 ), the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to university students, such as intrapersonal, interpersonal, academic, and financial adjustments that may lead to increased stress. Obviously, these adjustments within a short time would eventually impair the mental health of university students under the pandemic.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Among University Students in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Positive Youth Development Attributes

et al. 2022

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As studies on the mental health status of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic are almost non-existent in Hong Kong, we examined four research questions in this paper: What is the prevalence of depressive symptoms in university students in Hong Kong? What are the socio-demographic correlates of depressive symptoms? Do need satisfaction and positive youth development (PYD) attributes, including beliefs about adversity, psychosocial competence (resilience and emotional competence) and family functioning predict depression? Do PYD attributes moderate the predictive effect of need satisfaction on depression? We examined the above research questions using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) in 1,648 university students in Hong Kong. For PYD attributes, we utilized validated measures of Chinese beliefs about adversity, psychosocial competence (resilience and emotional competence), and family functioning. For need satisfaction, we used a measure derived from two focus group interviews involving university students. Results showed that 48.4% of the respondents (95% confidence interval = [45.9%, 51.1%]) scored 16 or above (i.e., “at-risk” for clinical depression). As predicted, age, gender, student status (local vs. international), and family financial hardship were significant socio-demographic correlates of depressive symptoms. Besides, need satisfaction and PYD attributes negatively predicted depression scores. Finally, multiple regression analyses controlling for gender, age, and student status as covariates showed that all PYD attributes moderated the impact of need satisfaction on depression. The findings reinforce the theoretical proposition that PYD attributes serve as important factors in protecting the mental health of university students during the pandemic.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Among University Students in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Positive Youth Development Attributes

et al. 2022

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“…These findings further support the notion that the pandemic has been detrimental to young people's mental health and quality of life, worldwide ( 74 – 77 ). A recent study of university students in Hong Kong ( 78 ) identified “living alone” and “[having] experienced economic disadvantage” as risk factors for university students' negative emotional states during the pandemic. In our study, we also found that students from non-intact families (e.g., a divorced-parents family or a single-parent family) reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than their peers living in intact families did.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social networking use, mental health, and quality of life of Hong Kong adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

2022

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents' use of social networking sites/apps has surged, and their mental health and quality of life have also been significantly affected by the pandemic and its associated social-protection measures. The present study first examined the prevalence of social networking sites/apps use and social networking addiction, the mental health status, and the health-related quality of life among Hong Kong adolescent students. We further investigated the associations of the youths' daily use of social networking sites/apps and their social networking addiction with their mental health and quality of life during the pandemic.MethodsA total of 1,147 students (age = 15.20 ± 0.53 years) recruited from 12 randomly selected local secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in a questionnaire survey in classroom settings between January and June, 2020, right after the COVID-19 outbreak. The questionnaire includes demographic characteristics and scales that measure social networking sites/apps use and social networking addiction, mental health, and quality of life.ResultsApproximately 46.4% of the participants reported using social networking sites/apps often or very often, and 7.8% met the criteria for social networking addiction using Bergen's Social Media Addiction Scale. The prevalence of mild to extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress among the adolescents stood at 39.6, 37.5, 48.8%, respectively, and the participants' physical, social, and school functioning were lower than the norms of healthy adolescents before the pandemic. Participants who used social networking sites/apps but for <3 h per day (excluding students who never used social networking sites/apps) showed significantly fewer problems of depression, anxiety, and stress than did those who spent more than 3 h per day on social networking sites/apps. Social networking addiction was found to be consistently associated with poor mental health and health-related quality of life.ConclusionThis study provides important evidence supporting the potential protective effect of guiding adolescents to use social networking sites/apps appropriately in order to mitigate their negative emotions during contexts such as that of the pandemic; it further points to the need to provide extra support to promote the well-being of young people, especially those in disadvantaged situations (e.g., non-intact family) during and after the pandemic.

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Social Policies and Theories on Quality of Life under COVID-19: In Search of the Missing Links

Shek

Leung

Tan

2023

Applied Research Quality Life

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COVID-19 has generated many negative impacts on the family, including impaired psychological well-being of family members (parents and children) and family processes (such as parenting and family functioning). Regarding social policies to support families under the pandemic, there are several missing links. First, COVID-19 related policies mainly focus on physical well-being with a relatively weaker emphasis on psychological well-being. Second, with social policies primarily aiming at stabilizing the “financial capital” of the public, human capital (particularly personal resilience) and social capital (particularly family resilience) are relatively neglected. Third, while “general” social policies may help “averaged” individuals and families, there is a need to take pre-existing family vulnerabilities (such as poverty and caregiving burdens) and inequalities into account when formulating “down to earth” social policies. Fourth, while social science knowledge and theories have important potential contributions to help develop relevant policies and services to promote quality of life under COVID-19, explicit utilization is not strong. With reference to these missing links, we proposed several research and practice directions for the promotion of quality of life under the pandemic.

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Prevalence and Correlates of Mental Health of University Students in Hong Kong: What Happened One Year After the Occurrence of COVID-19?

Cited by 24 publications

References 51 publications

Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Among University Students in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Positive Youth Development Attributes

Need Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms Among University Students in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Positive Youth Development Attributes

Social networking use, mental health, and quality of life of Hong Kong adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social Policies and Theories on Quality of Life under COVID-19: In Search of the Missing Links

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