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Purpose: This study developed and evaluated an adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention (aCBI) program to respond to the higher education mental health crisis in Hong Kong. Methods: The aCBI program was delivered in the form of a 13-week general education (GE) course and was evaluated at pre-, post-, and 3-month follow-up. A total of 544 undergraduate students who experienced psychological distress were randomized to either the aCBI group (n = 197) or the wait-list control group (WLC) (n = 347). Results: Compared with their WLC counterparts, the aCBI participants showed significantly stronger improvements in psychological distress, perceived stress, positive and negative emotions, and resilience at the posttest and 3-month follow-up. Positive and negative thoughts and sense-making coping partially mediated the treatment effects of aCBI. Conclusions: The aCBI program shows promise for inclusion in higher education curriculums to bridge the mental health service gaps for Chinese university students.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a culturally attuned group cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) intervention for Chinese adolescents at risk for anxiety disorders in Hong Kong and the additive effects of parental involvement. A randomized controlled design was adopted. Assessments were gathered at pre- and posttreatment, and 6-month follow-up. Participants (N = 136) were randomly assigned to (a) CBT plus parental involvement (CBT-PI) (n = 46), (b) CBT (n = 45), and (c) social activity (n = 45) conditions. Data were analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle using multilevel modeling. The CBT-PI condition showed a greater reduction in physical injury fears compared with the CBT condition. The current findings suggest that involving parents in CBT for Chinese adolescents with anxiety problems may provide a small improvement in treatment efficacy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Purpose: Chinese international students have been widely reported to lack recognition of their psychological problems and to delay treatment until their symptoms become rather disabling. The present study pioneered to evaluate the effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training in improving mental health knowledge among Chinese-speaking international tertiary students. Method: A quasi-experimental design was adopted, whereby 202 Chinese-speaking international students in Melbourne were assigned to the MHFA condition or a control condition. All participants completed a standardized questionnaire before, at the end, and 3 months after training. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results: The findings demonstrated that MHFA training might be effective in improving participants’ knowledge of mental disorders (i.e., recognition of symptoms, belief in helpful treatments, and understanding the biogenetic and psychosocial causes) and reducing stigma. Conclusions: The MHFA program has the potential to enhance mental health knowledge and promote help-seeking among Chinese-speaking international students.

The role of parental behavioural control in influencing developmental outcomes of children and adolescents has been inconsistently delineated in the literature. The present study aims to examine the relationships among parental behavioural control, academic self-efficacy, anxieties and academic achievement of young Chinese children in Hong Kong, paying particular attention to understanding the role of academic self-efficacy and anxieties in influencing the relationship between parental behavioural control and children’s academic achievement. Two hundred and thirty-five parents of junior elementary school students completed a battery of standardised questionnaires. Results interestingly documented an inconsistent mediation effect for both academic self-efficacy and social anxiety. In essence, parental control indeed had a significant positive influence on academic achievement among Chinese junior primary school students in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, parental behavioural control at the same time decreased academic self-efficacy and induced social anxiety feelings, which in turn led to a lower level of academic achievement. Given that a greater parental behavioural control is inherently culturally accepted in Chinese communities, such findings shed light on that enhancing academic self-efficacy and reducing social anxiety are potential mechanisms through which parents could facilitate growth and development in their children. The results could also lessen the “guilt and blame” that are unnecessarily placed on some Chinese parents.

Objectives: This study endeavors to advance the current literature by examining the gender differences in the caregiving experiences and the stress-buffering role of positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) among Chinese spousal caregivers of frail elders in Hong Kong. Method: Forty-nine husband caregivers and 121 wife caregivers of frail elders in Hong Kong (N = 170) responded to the Positive Aspects of Caregiving (PAC) scale, the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21), and demographic questions. These spousal caregivers were diverse in age, and their care receivers were diverse in terms of age and health condition. Results: As predicted, there were significant gender differences in the moderating effects of PAC on the relationships of caregiving burden to depression, anxiety, and overall psychological distress. While PAC significantly buffered the effects of caregiving burden on depression, anxiety, and overall psychological distress for wife caregivers, the moderating effects of PAC were not significant for husband caregivers. Unexpectedly, wife caregivers reported lower PAC, higher caregiving burden, and higher psychological distress. Conclusion: As these findings suggest that PAC is lower but more beneficial for Chinese wife caregivers than Chinese husband caregivers, helping professionals are recommended to use strengths-based interventions that target PAC when working with Chinese wife caregivers.

Very few clinical cognitive-behavioural intervention (CBI) studies were conducted with the Chinese gamblers. There is a lack of attention paid to intervening in negative emotions that may also adversely affect PGs in current CBI treatment modality. This study is the first attempt to systematically and rigorously evaluate both the short-term and longer-term effects of a culturally-attuned CBI group treatment with an emotion regulation component for a group of Chinese PGs in Hong Kong. A quasi-experimental matched-pairs design was adopted and 84 participants were allocated to the CBI (N = 42) and social activity groups (N = 42). There are 3 assessment points in the study: baseline at recruitment, post-intervention at the end of CBI and social activity groups, and at 6-month follow-up. When compared to the social activity group and after controlling for general group effects, there were significantly greater decreases in the severity of gambling, gambling-related cognitions (i.e. interpretive bias), negative psychological states (i.e. stress) and money spent on gambling in the past month in the CBI group between pre- and post-intervention and between pre-intervention and 6-month follow-up. Results also indicated that both reduction in gambling-related cognitions and negative psychological states could mediate the treatment effect of the CBI on the reduction of problematic gambling behaviours. The culturally attuned integrated CBI group treatment with an emotional regulation component appeared to be effective in treating Chinese problem gamblers in Hong Kong and the effects could be sustained at 6-month follow-up.

Purpose: Hope and meaning in life are essential components of personal growth and happiness. Built on the recovery model, this study attempted to evaluate the effects of a recovery-oriented cognitive–behavior approach (CBA) in enhancing hope and meaning in life among a group of people with severe mental illness in Hong Kong. Method: A matched-pair comparison approach was adopted. Twenty-seven experimental group participants received recovery-oriented CBA, while 25 participants received standard counseling services. Assessments were administered at preintervention and at 6 and 12 months of intervention. Results: Repeated measures analyses of covariance indicated that the recovery-oriented CBA was more effective than the control condition in improving the mental health recovery process (basic functioning, finding new potentials, and spirituality) and a sense of hope (planning in achieving goals). Conclusion: Given these initial positive results, more vigorous studies and refinement of this recovery-oriented CBA are needed to ascertain the effectiveness of this combined intervention approach.

Gambling-related cognitions and negative psychological states have been proposed as major factors in the initiation and maintenance of problem gambling (PG). While there are a substantial number of studies supporting the role of cognitive dysfunctions in the initiation and maintenance of PG, very few empirical studies have explored the specific role of negative psychological states in influencing PG behaviours. In addition, very few studies have examined the interaction effects of cognitive dysfunctions and negative psychological states in exerting influence on PG behaviours. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the main and interaction effects of gambling-related cognitions and psychological states on the gambling severity among a group of problem gamblers in Hong Kong. A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A purposive sample of 177 problem gamblers who sought treatment from a social service organization in Hong Kong completed a battery of standardised questionnaires. While gambling-related cognitions were found to exert significant effects on gambling severity, negative psychological states (i.e. stress) significantly moderated the relationship between gambling cognitions and gambling severity. In essence, those participants who reported a higher level of stress had more stable and serious gambling problems than those who reported a lower level of stress irrespective of the level of gambling-related cognitions. The findings of the moderating role of negative emotions in the relationship between cognitive distortions and severity of gambling provide insight towards developing an integrated intervention model which includes both cognitive-behavioural and emotion regulation strategies in helping people with PG.

In the search for novel solid acid catalysts for the gas-phase catalytic dehydration of glycerol to acrolein, sepiolite clay minerals were activated with hydrochloric acid to produce acid-activated sepiolite catalysts. The effects of the activation process on the texture and acidity of acid-activated sepiolite, and their roles in gas-phase catalytic dehydration of glycerol to acrolein, were then investigated. A series of acid-activated sepiolite catalysts were made from purified natural sepiolite treated with hydrochloric acid of different concentrations (0–8 mol/L) at 80 °C, followed by drying at 100 °C. The acid-activated sepiolite catalyst samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence analysis, scanning electronic microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, NH3-temperature-programmed desorption. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and pyridine adsorption followed by in situ infrared spectroscopy. The catalytic performances in gas-phase catalytic dehydration of glycerol to acrolein were studied using a vertical fixed-bed reactor. Typically, a glycerol conversion of 92.9%, an acrolein selectivity of 59.4%, and a yield of acrolein of 55.2% were achieved when the gas-phase catalytic dehydration of glycerol was conducted over HCl (2 mol/L) acid-activated sepiolite catalyst at 320 °C with an aqueous glycerol solution (20 wt.%) at a rate of 0.10 ml/min as the feedstock and air as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 20 ml/min. The activation of the sepiolite with hydrochloric acid followed by drying can eliminate a portion of the zeolitic water in the tunnels, remove part of the magnesium and aluminum cations in the octahedral sheets of sepiolite, unbundle aggregated sepiolite fibers, and partly break the Si-O-Si in the tetrahedral sheets of sepiolite. These factors increased the porosity, the specific surface area and the acidity of the sepiolite. The partial leaching of magnesium and aluminum ions in the octahedral sheet generated octahedral vacancies and created Mg O Al+ sites in the octahedral sheets, thereby increasing the amount of Lewis acid sites. Along with penetration of H+ cations into the interlayered space of the sepiolite by an ion-exchange reaction and physicochemical surface adsorption, some breakage of the Si O Si bonds in the tetrahedral sheets generated more Si O H+, thus increasing the quantity of Bronsted acid sites. Furthermore, the strength of acidity of the hydrochloric acid-activated sepiolite was significantly changed after the acid activation. The medium-strong Bronsted acid sites (Si O H+ and H+ adsorbed on the surface) appeared to be beneficial for the high conversion of glycerol and the selectivity to acrolein. Lewis acid sites could facilitate the formation of acetol. Under the reaction conditions mentioned above, the coking on the hydrochloric acid-activated sepiolite catalysts readily occurred, rapidly leading to the decrease of the yield of acrolein.

Objectives: This study evaluated a culturally attuned cognitive–behavior intervention for reducing impulsivity and delinquency-related attitudes and behaviors among Chinese delinquent youth in Hong Kong. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Twenty participants received CBI, and 20 received routine counseling for a period of 12 months. All participants filled out a standardized questionnaire before the intervention and at 6 and 12 months of intervention. Results: A series of 2 × 3 analyses of variance were used to examine the Time × Group Effects of the two groups of participants. Results suggested, when compared to the control group, the participants in the experimental group showed greater and continuous positive changes in overall impulsivity, nonplanning impulsivity, cognitive impulsivity, and overall delinquency, with effect sizes showing moderate to large magnitude of change. Conclusion: This culturally attuned CBI program may be a useful inclusion in the outreaching social services for Chinese delinquent youth in Hong Kong.

Background The construct of self-determination has received considerable attention in the international field of intellectual disabilities (ID). Recently, there has been a rapid development of this construct in Chinese societies including Hong Kong. However, there is no locally validated instrument to measure self-determination in people with ID. This article explains the validation process of the AIR Self-Determination Scale – Chinese version (AIR SDS-C) adapted from the 24-item AIR Self-Determination Scale, developed by Wolman and his colleagues, which is used in school setting. Methods People with mild/moderate ID aged 15 years or above were recruited from special schools and social services units in different regions of Hong Kong. Factor analysis and reliability tests were conducted. Results Data for a total of 356 participants were used for the analysis. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the factorial construct, and Mplus 7.0 was used for the analysis. The factor structure proposed in the original English version was supported by the data, and all factor loadings were between 0.42 and 0.76. The whole scale achieved good reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.88 and ω = 0.90). Conclusions The AIR SDS-C appears to be a valid and reliable scale. This study examined adult groups as well as student groups. The application of the scale can thus be extended to a wider population. The implications for theory building and practice are discussed.

Fly ash is the fine solid particulate residue driven out of the boiler with the flue gases in coal-fired power plants. Now it can be used for making geopolymer which acts as a cement-like product. The geopolymer technology provides an alternative good solution to the utilization of fly ash with little negative impact on environment. This review summarizes and examines the scientific advances in the preparation, properties and applications of fly ash-based geopolymer. The production of fly ash-based geopolymer is mainly based on alkali activated geopolymerization which can occur under mild conditions and is considered as a cleaner process due to much lower CO 2 emission than that from the production of cement. The geopolymerization can trap and fix the trace toxic metal elements from fly ash or external sources. The Si/Al ratios, the type and the amount of the alkali solution, the temperature, the curing conditions, and the additives are critical factors in a geopolymerization process. The mechanical performances of the fly ash-based geopolymer, including compressive strength, flexural and splitting tensile strength, and durability such as the resistance to chloride, sulfate, acid, thermal, freeze-thaw and efflorescence, are the primary concerns. These properties of fly ash-based geopolymer are inherently dependent upon the chemical composition and chemical bonding and the porosity. The mechanical properties and durability can be improved by fine tuning Si/Al ratios, alkali solutions, curing conditions, and adding slag, fiber, rice husk-bark ash and red mud. Fly ash-based geopolymer is expected to be used as a kind of novel green cement. Fly ash-based geopolymer can be used as a class of materials to adsorb and immobilize toxic or radioactive metals. The factors affecting the performances of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, in particular aggregate, are discussed. For future studies on fly ash-based geopolymer, further enhancing mechanical performance, scaling up production and exploring new applications are suggested.

Background Youth between 18 and 25 years old are among the most active drug abusers in any community globally, including in Hong Kong. Disturbing evidence about the deleterious effects of drug use on their physical and psychological health has been reported. However, a literature search found very few outcome studies on the psychosocial treatment models for young Chinese people. The present study is one of the first that has systematically developed and implemented an innovative and culturally attuned integrated cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) model that comprises motivational interviewing, CBT and relapse prevention in helping Chinese youth with drug abuse problems in an Asian community. Method A quasi-experimental matched-pairs design was adopted. Thirty-nine participants were assigned to the experimental group (ICBT) and 38 were assigned to the control group (treatment as usual [TAU]). Assessments were conducted at baseline, 4 months after the intervention, at the completion of the intervention (9 months) and 4 months after the completion of the intervention. Multilevel modelling and hierarchical regression analysis were performed for data analysis. Results There were significantly greater improvements in negative emotions, drug use frequency in the past 3 months, quality of life and coping strategies reported by the participants in the ICBT compared to the TAU group. Mediation analysis found that changes in dysfunctional attitudes significantly accounted for the treatment effects of the ICBT programme on negative emotions and quality of life, and changes in substance use coping strategies significantly mediated the treatment effects of the ICBT programme on substance dependency severity (SDS). Conclusion The findings provide initial support for the effectiveness of our culturally attuned ICBT model in improving negative emotions, drug use frequency and drug dependency severity, quality of life and adaptive coping skills among the Chinese youth and young adults with drug abuse problems. Such effects were sustained at the 4-month follow-up.

Many studies suggest that naturally-occurring layered clay minerals can be used as a class of biocompatible solid supports for immobilizing enzymes. The corresponding clay mineral enzyme hybrids prove to have great potentials in catalysis and biosensing. This article reviews latest advances in using clay minerals as supports for the immobilization of enzymes. The immobilization of enzyme onto clay minerals can be made via non-covalent adsorption and covalent bonding. The non-covalent immobilization involves van der Waals forces, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. For avoiding desorption of enzymes, immobilization can be conducted through direct covalent bonding between enzymes and clay minerals. Organic modification of clay minerals and addition of linking molecules are made to improve the immobilization so as to increase the loading, activity and stability of enzymes. Regarding the applications of enzyme immobilized on clay minerals, recent studies are made mainly in biocatalytic processes and in biosensors. For manufacturing biosensing electrodes, clay minerals with metal nanoparticles, graphene and carbon nanotubes prove to be more effective owing mainly to the enhanced electron transfer. Future work on clay mineral enzyme hybrids could lie in integrating more additional functional materials with clay mineral enzyme hybrids to build hierarchical structured catalysts and electrodes.

Background: Few studies have been performed to explore mental health literacy and stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness and their relationships with causal beliefs about mental illness among Chinese people in Taiwan. Aims: Using a comparative approach, this study attempted to compare the mental health literacy and stigmatising attitudes of Taiwanese Chinese with those found among Australian and Japanese participants in other studies and to explore how mental health literacy and stigmatising attitudes relate to different perceptions of causes of mental illness. Methods: A convenience sample of 287 participants completed a battery of standardised questionnaires. Results: A much lower percentage of Taiwanese people than Australians could correctly identify depression and schizophrenia. The Taiwanese respondents rated psychiatrists and clinical psychologists as more helpful than social workers and general practitioners (GPs) and expressed more uncertainty about the usefulness of certain medications when compared to the Australian and Japanese samples. Interestingly, Taiwanese Chinese hold similarly high levels of stigma towards schizophrenia, but lower levels of stigma towards depression when compared to the Japanese respondents. Taiwanese respondents who have higher levels of mental health literacy about schizophrenia were less willing to interact with people with schizophrenia than those with lower levels of mental health literacy. Conclusion: This study underlines the need for public education programmes to improve knowledge of various mental illnesses and to reduce stigmatising attitudes among Taiwanese Chinese. The aforementioned socially and culturally driven beliefs must be taken into consideration so that culturally relevant education programmes can be developed.

Using data of 200, 522, 572, and 287 Chinese from Australia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively, this study aimed at comparing the mental health literacy of Chinese people from different communities, and between Chinese communities and the Australian general public. The participants were asked questions that assessed their recognition of depression and schizophrenia. Compared with the Australians, much lower percentages of Chinese in the four Chinese communities could correctly identify depression and early schizophrenia. Commonalities in the preference for 'psychiatrist', 'psychologist', 'Chinese medical doctor', and 'Chinese traditional healer', a lack of knowledge of medications, and a higher likelihood of endorsement of traditional Chinese medicines were found among the four Chinese communities. Differences in the preference for 'general practitioner' and 'social worker', and a higher percentage of endorsement of herbal medicines were observed among the different Chinese communities. Cultural factors such as Chinese perceptions of mental illness, and socio-contextual factors such as differences in mental health care system in the four communities were offered to explain these commonalities and differences. Mental health promotion programmes for Chinese people may need to consider the above-mentioned cultural and socio-contextual factors so that specific promotion programmes can be developed.

Wong D.F.K., Zhuang X.Y., Pan J.Y., He X.S. A critical reviewof mental health and mental health-related policies in China:More actions requiredIn China, there are over 170 million people suffering frommental illness. However, there is a lack of a critical review ofthe policies governing the provision of mental health services.Drawing on the framework of mental health policy developedby the WHO, this article critically examines mental healthpolicies regarding legislation, financing, model of care anddelivery, as well as manpower and the training of mentalhealth professionals in China.This analysis raises a number ofpolicy-related questions concerning the lack of community-based psychiatric services, inadequate coverage of mentalhealth services in the rural areas, poor standard of educationand an insufficient number of trained mental health profes-sionals, and insufficient protection of the human rights ofpeople with mental illness. The article ends by urging thevarious levels of governments to make a firm commitmentto improve mental health care for people with mental illnessin China.Daniel Fu Keung Wong

Background: The number of internal migrant children in China has reached 35.8 million by the end of 2010. Previous studies revealed inconsistent findings regarding the mental health status of rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, as well as the impact of peer, teacher and parental support on the mental health of Chinese adolescent migrants. Aims: Using a comparative approach, this study attempted to compare the mental health status between migrant and urban-born adolescents and to clarify the specific roles of different sources of social support in the mental health of migrant and urban adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional survey using a cluster convenience sampling strategy was performed in Beijing, China. A structured questionnaire was filled out by 368 rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and 325 urban-born adolescents. Results: A significant difference was found only for positive affect (PA) but not for negative affect (NA) between the two groups, favouring the urban-born adolescents. Social support from all the three sources were all predictive of PA among rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, while only peer support contributed to PA among urban-born adolescents. Unexpectedly, teachers’ support contributed to an increase in NA among urban-born adolescents. Conclusion: The findings contribute to understanding of the mental health status of migrant adolescents in China and the differential impact of the various sources of social support on migrant and urban-born adolescents. Also the findings may inform the development of mental health services and programmes that can potentially benefit a large number of internal migrant adolescents in China.