scholarly journals Psychological Morbidity among University Students in Hong Kong (2014–2018): Psychometric Properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and Related Correlates

Author(s):  
Xiang Li ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Esther Y. W. Shek

Although mental health problems among Hong Kong university students are serious, there is a lack of studies examining the psychometric properties of related assessment scales and correlates. This study attempted to validate the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in Hong Kong university students and examine the demographic (gender), time (cohort), and well-being correlates (positive youth development attributes and life satisfaction) of psychological morbidity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the DASS (n = 6704). Gender and cohort invariance were further established using a multigroup CFA. The three-factor model of the DASS showed a superior fit and factorial invariance across gender and five different cohorts. Regarding gender and cohort correlates of psychological morbidity, males exhibited more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms than their female counterparts. The intensity of psychological distress also escalated after the Umbrella Movement in 2014. Furthermore, well-being measures (positive youth development and life satisfaction) were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. In short, the Chinese DASS demonstrated good psychometric properties. This study also showed that gender, cohort (occurrence of political events), and well-being were associated with psychological morbidity indexed by the DASS measures.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C. F. Sun ◽  
Y. H. Chui ◽  
S. W. Lit ◽  
Walter W. Yuen ◽  
...  

With higher education, university graduates are important elements of the labor force in knowledge-based economies. With reference to the mental health and developmental problems in university students, there is a need to review university’s role in nurturing holistic development of students. Based on the positive youth development approach, it is argued that promoting intrapersonal competencies is an important strategy to facilitate holistic development of young people in Hong Kong. In The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a course entitled Tomorrow’s Leader focusing on positive youth development constructs to promote student well-being will be offered on a compulsory basis starting from 2012/13 academic year under the new undergraduate curriculum structure. The proposed course was piloted in 2010/11 school year. Different evaluation strategies, including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation, process evaluation, and qualitative evaluation, are being carried out to evaluate the developed course. Preliminary evaluation findings based on the piloting experience in 2010/11 academic year are presented in this paper.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek

The purpose of this study was to examine the postlecture evaluation by the students taking a course (Tomorrow's Leaders) that attempted to promote their leadership qualities and intrapersonal competencies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. Except for the last lecture, students were invited to respond to a 12-item postlecture questionnaire after each lecture. Results showed that the students had positive perceptions of the subject, class, and teacher attributes, and they had positive global evaluation of the teacher and the subject. The postlecture evaluation questionnaire was found to possess good psychometric properties. Multiple regression analyses showed that subject, class, and teacher attributes were predictive of global evaluation of the lecture and the teacher. In conjunction with other evaluation findings, the present findings strongly suggest that students had positive perceptions of the attributes and benefits of “Tomorrow's Leaders.”


Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M.S. Ma

AbstractThe changes in university students after taking a subject on leadership and intrapersonal development (“Tomorrow’s Leaders” at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) are presented in this paper. Adopting a pre-experimental design (one group pretest-posttest design), 1029 students responded to a questionnaire assessing different aspects of development, including measures of positive youth development and life satisfaction. While students showed positive changes in self-determination, thriving and life satisfaction, their scores declined in some measures of positive youth development. The present findings are consistent with the previous findings that the subject is able to promote the holistic development of university students in Hong Kong, but it also generated some odd findings to be clarified in future studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Boris P.M. Cheung

Abstract Four domains of developmental issues of university students in Hong Kong are examined in this paper. First, behavioral and lifestyle problems of university students are identified, including alcohol consumption, Internet addiction, cyber-pornography, irregular sleep patterns, and interpersonal violence. Second, the mental health problems of university students, including suicidal ideation, depression and anxiety problems, are outlined. Third, issues on self-determination (including establishment of personal goals), self-confidence, and materialism of the students are reviewed. Fourth, issues related to students’ connection to the society, including egocentrism and civic engagement, are discussed. The views of employers about university graduates in Hong Kong are also examined. With the emergence of developmental issues among Hong Kong university students, it is argued that promoting the psychosocial competencies of university students via positive youth development programs is an important strategy in addressing such issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Ba’yah Abdul Kadir ◽  
Rusyda Helma Mohd

A substantial body of evidence supports Lerner and colleagues’ 5Cs model of positive youth development (PYD) in the United States (U.S.). Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether the 5Cs can be used to identify positive development in the under-researched Asian contexts, such as Malaysia. Thus, this study examined the 5Cs of PYD (competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring) and their importance to purpose in life, hope, and well-being in a sample of emerging adult undergraduate university students in Malaysia. Data were collected from 400 participants from 15 Malaysian universities (132 males, 268 females; ages ranged from 18 to 26 years old, M = 22). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the 5Cs of PYD (confidence and connection) as well as hope were important to explaining variation in well-being. The findings imply that there are strong links between PYD, especially confidence and connection, and well-being, while purpose in life and hope were indirectly related to the 2Cs (confidence and connection) of PYD and well-being. Therefore, mental health professionals are encouraged to review and redefine their treatment design to include confidence, connection, purpose in life and hope when working with Malaysian emerging adult university students.


Author(s):  
Xiaoqin Zhu ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek

AbstractService leadership education initiatives have been launched in Hong Kong to meet the emerging demand for service leaders and enhance university students’ well-being through nurturing not only competence but also good character and caring disposition. However, rigorous evaluation work based on validated assessment tools has not been adequately carried out to examine whether student well-being and service leadership qualities would increase after the learning process. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, this study investigated the effectiveness of a credit-bearing subject entitled “Service Leadership” implemented in one university in Hong Kong. Based on the responses of 114 participants (49.1% boys, Age = 20.21 ± 2.96 years), it was found that students showed improvement in service leadership knowledge, attitude, and behavior after taking the subject. In addition, their life satisfaction and positive youth development attributes as indicators of well-being also significantly increased. Furthermore, the increase in well-being among students was closely associated with their attitudinal and behavioral changes but not knowledge acquisition. The present findings imply that a formal curriculum-based leadership course can be a promising way to promote student service leadership qualities and well-being.


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