published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Background: The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and diet habits has been identified in many studies across the globe. However, studies about association between SES and dietary habits are limited in Hong Kong, especially among the adolescents. Therefore, this study was proposed to identify some of the SES measures and their association between some dietary choices among this population. Objective: The primary objectives in this study is to describe the association of diet with socioeconomic position among Hong Kong‘s adolescents, and to assess whether the results differ depending on which indicator, parental education, parental occupation and family affluence, is used. Method: This is a cross-sessional study carried out on 21,721 participants who are in Form 1 – Form 7 from 42 schools. Demographic variables; three SES measures: highest parental education, highest parental occupation and family affluence; and consumption frequency of four food groups: vegetables; fruits; high-fat foods; junk foods and soft drink were obtained and assessed by a standardized questionnaire. In cross-sectional analysis, multivariate logistic regression was used to identify association between the four food groups intake frequency and the three SES measures. Result: Parental education is not found to be significantly associated with sufficient consumption of vegetable nor moderate/high consumption of high-fat foods and junk foods/ soft drink. However, it is found that adolescent with the highest parental education level (post-secondary level) have a higher likelihood of consuming sufficient fruits (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.24 to 1.65). Similarly to parental education, parental occupation is also found to be not significantly associated with sufficient consumption of vegetable and moderate/high consumption of high-fat foods, junk foods and soft drink. Conversely, a higher occupational status of the parent is associated with a less likelihood of the adolescent consuming sufficient amount of fruits. In terms of family affluence, a higher perceiving family economic status is found to be associated with a decrease tendency of consuming moderate-high consumption of junk foods and soft drink (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.96). Conclusion: This study finding does not support the use of parental education and occupation as a proxy to measure the association between SES and dietary habit. On the other hand, findings implies that subjective appraisal of one‘s family affluence is a good determinant of sufficient intake of particular food groups. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Research on psychopathology in children and adolescents has focused on studying the major vulnerability factors for depression and anxiety. Most previous studies have focused exclusively on single domain of the vulnerability factors, such as psychosocial, personality, or cognitive variables. Very few studies have attempted to study the various domains of vulnerability factors in combination. Thus, research data available to date have failed to address the interplay of their roles in anxiety and depression. The present study used a psychometric approach to investigate the roles of major psychosocial, personality, and cognitive vulnerability factors in anxiety and depression, with a particular emphasis on their interrelationships, as well as their primary effects and mediating roles. The psychosocial factors examined in the present study included parenting styles (permissiveness, authoritarianism, and authoritativeness), peer relations (bullying, victimization, and prosocial behaviour), and school climate (teacher support, consistency and clarity of rules and expectations, disciplinary harshness, and safety problems). The personality trait variables included neuroticism and optimism. The cognitive variables included negative automatic thoughts related to anxiety and depression, which is commonly reported by children and adolescents. A battery of self-report measures in Chinese was administered to a sample of 1,164 Hong Kong secondary school students aged 11 to 17. The measures showed good internal consistency, and the factor structures of the translated measures were comparable to the original Western measures. Among the vulnerability factors studied, psychosocial factors including parenting style (authoritarian), peer relations (bullying and victimization), and school climate (teacher support, disciplinary harshness, and safety problems at school) were found to be significant predictors for children’s negative automatic thoughts and negative emotions. As predicted, the personality traits of neuroticism and optimism mediated the effects of the psychosocial factors on negative automatic thoughts. In addition, the results showed that neuroticism was a significant predictor for both depression and anxiety, and that the respective effects were significantly mediated by negative automatic thoughts. Optimism was also a significant predictor of depression and was significantly mediated by negative automatic thoughts. In contrast, optimism did not have a direct effect on anxiety, and its effect was completely mediated by negative automatic thoughts. Structural equation modelling showed that, of the three psychosocial vulnerability factors, parenting styles and school climate had greater effects on depression and anxiety than peer relations. The results from structural equation modelling confirmed the working model, which argues that neuroticism and optimism mediate the effects of psychosocial factors and that neuroticism and optimism are in turn mediated by the negative cognitions associated with depression and anxiety. Overall, the present results suggest the need for future research to examine major domains of vulnerability factors in combination in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of their interplay in anxiety and depression. The present study provides preliminary results that can help to guide future vulnerability research and preventive interventions. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work