The Mark of an Ex-Prisoner: Perceived Discrimination and Self-Stigma of Young Men after Prison in Hong Kong

The stigma of being an ex-prisoner can lead to self-stigmatizing beliefs and hinder reintegration. For young ex-prisoners, this is particularly challenging as they need not only to transition from prison to society but from adolescence to adulthood. This study explores the experiences of discrimination and self-stigma of 16 young men recently released from Hong Kong prisons. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews, it reveals that participants perceived themselves as facing discrimination, mainly from prospective employers. Self-stigma was more salient with regard to lower self-worth and shame and embarrassment. Most adopted a “don't ask, don't tell” strategy in disclosing their identity as ex-prisoners. As very little research has been conducted on the experiences of returning offenders in Hong Kong, this study highlights the challenges of reentry.     

Psychological stress and glucose metabolism in obese and normal-weight subjects: a possible mechanism for differences in stress-induced eating

Acute psychological stress has been found to impair the handling of a glucose load in normal-weight individuals and to produce a delay in gastrointestinal transit time. The present study utilized the same paradigm to compare 10 obese and 10 normal-weight subjects. All subjects participated in two counterbalanced sessions (stress and nonstress). At each session, subjects were fed a carbohydrate load, and glucose was measured 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after the load. On nonstress days, subjects relaxed after the drink; on stress days, subjects participated in 30 min of competitive tasks. The stressor significantly delayed the glucose response in the normal-weight subjects but did not affect the glucose response in obese subjects. This finding may have implications for differences between obese and normal-weight individuals in stress-induced eating, possibly explaining the decreased consumption of normal-weight individuals during stress.     

Psychometric Properties of the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) in Chinese Adolescents

The Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) was developed to assess Internet addiction in Chinese populations, but its psychometric properties in adolescents have not been examined. This study aimed to evaluate the factor structure and psychometric properties of CIAS-R in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. 860 Grade 7 to 13 students (38 % boys) completed the CIAS-R, the Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) in a survey. The prevalence of Internet addiction as assessed by CIAS-R was 18 %. High internal consistency and inter-item correlations were reported for the CIAS-R. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis suggested a four-factor structure of Compulsive Use and Withdrawal, Tolerance, Interpersonal and Health-related Problems, and Time Management Problems. Moreover, results of hierarchical multiple regression supported the incremental validity of the CIAS-R to predict mental health outcomes beyond the effects of demographic differences and self-reported time spent online. The CIAS is a reliable and valid measure of internet addiction problems in Hong Kong adolescents. Future study is warranted to validate the cutoffs of the CIAS-R for identification of adolescents with Internet use problems who may have mental health needs.     

Can dancers suppress the haptically mediated interpersonal entrainment during rhythmic sway?

Interpersonal entrainment emerges spontaneously when partners performing rhythmic movements together exchange sensory feedback about the other's movements. In this study, we asked whether couples of expert dancers, non-dancers and mixed couples can suppress the spontaneous haptically mediated inter-personal entrainment when their rhythmic sway is paced by differing metronome tempos. Fifty-four young participants formed three types of couples: nine dancer couples, consisting of individuals with at least eight years systematic practice in traditional Greek dance; nine non-dancer couples, consisting of individuals with no prior experience in dance and nine mixed couples, consisting of one dancer and one novice partner. Partners swayed rhythmically for 60 s, at different pacing frequencies (one at 0.25 Hz and the other at 0.35 Hz) under three haptic contact conditions: no contact between them; light fingertip touch established in the 2nd trial segment (30 s); and light fingertip touch released in the 2nd trial segment (30 s). Spectral analysis of the antero-posterior center of pressure displacement revealed that light touch increased the deviation of the dominant from the target (pacing) sway frequency, decreased the proportion of the signal's power at the target frequency and increased the coherence between the partners' sway signals (inter-personal coherence). These effects were specific to the mixed group whereas touch interference was weaker in non-dancers and absent in dancers. In addition, the coherence between the trial segments (intra-personal coherence) significantly decreased with touch only for the non-dancer while it remained unchanged for the dancer partner of the mixed group suggesting that the dancer was leading the non-dancer partner. It is concluded that systematic practice with traditional dance can modulate the spontaneous tendency towards haptically mediated interpersonal entrainment.     

A Strengths-Based Longitudinal Career Intervention for Junior Secondary School Students with Special Educational Needs: a Mixed-method Evaluation

The mixed-method study reported here was designed to evaluate a strengths-based career intervention program for secondary school students with mild special educational needs (SEN). A sample of 32 SEN students (19 boys: 13 girls) from 5 inclusive schools in Hong Kong were recruited to a treatment group. An additional 32 SEN students (19 boys: 13 girls) were selected to form the control group matched for age, gender and parents’ education level. The special needs exhibited by both groups were in areas of literacy and numeracy, attention deficits, and social-emotional problems, but did not include severe or complex disabilities. Participants in both groups responded to pre- and post-intervention questionnaires covering career development self-efficacy, personal and social development self-efficacy, and meaning in life. As a follow-up, two teachers and three social workers providing support to SEN students, and the 32 participants were interviewed several months after the intervention. Interviews also took place with teachers, social workers and students to evaluate the perceived effects of the intervention. Findings indicated significant interactions between Time 1 and Time 2, and between groups (control vs. treatment) in personal goal-setting, career goal-setting, and the presence of meaning in life. Additionally, several themes were identified from the interviews suggesting that the intervention did have positive effects on SEN students’ career, personal and social development self-efficacy, and acquisition of meaning in life.