A retrospective study on risk assessment and management of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hong Kong

The Department of Forensic Psychiatry of Castle Peak Hospital is the only facility in Hong Kong that provides territory-wide forensic psychiatric services for patients with criminal involvement. This retrospective study aimed to explore whether the rehabilitation programs provided by the department could significantly reduce the risks of forensic psychiatric inpatients as measured by the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START). START ratings of inpatients who were hospitalized in the department for more than 3 months and were discharged to the community during the period from 11 April 2015 to 31 March 2019 were analyzed. A total of 79 patients were assessed, of whom 61 (77.2%) were males. Fifty-four (68.4%) patients suffered from schizophrenia. START scores upon admission (strength score = 5.67; vulnerability score = 17.43) and upon discharge (strength score = 6.87, vulnerability score = 11.18) indicated significant reduction of risks among inpatients (p < 0.05).     

Super's Work Values Inventory: Issues of Subtest Internal Consistency Using a Sample of Chinese University Students in Hong Kong

The authors discuss observed weaknesses in internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas below .60) within five subtests of the Work Values Inventory when translated into Chinese and used with a sample of 211 university students in Hong Kong. Possible reasons for the weaknesses are explored, and suggestions are made for improvement.     

Life Satisfaction of Gifted and Average Adolescents in Hong Kong: Validation of the Chinese Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS)

Despite the popularity of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) for use in research, this instrument has not yet been validated with adolescents of different intellectual ability levels and across different cultures. This study examined the psychometric properties and measurement equivalence of BMSLSS with a sample of 676 Chinese adolescents who are deemed ‘gifted’ and attending the Hong Kong Academy of Gifted Education, and 702 students with average achievement in mainstream high schools. Results indicated high internal consistency for the scale and a one-factor solution for BMSLSS with this population. Tests of configural, full metric and partial scalar invariance suggest that gifted students attending an academy conceptualize life satisfaction in a same way as their average attainment peers in regular schools. The findings support the applicability and measurement equivalence of BMSLSS for use with Chinese gifted and average-ability students.

     

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.

     

Same‐gender supervisors protect women's leadership aspirations after negative performance feedback

Two studies examined how the gender of a workplace supervisor can affect a woman's response to performance evaluations and also her professional advancement aspirations. In Study 1, employed women reviewed a performance evaluation in which feedback was manipulated to reflect one of two stereotypes of women (high in warmth or low in competence). Findings showed that participants were more likely to attribute negative (i.e., low competence) feedback from men supervisors to gender biases than the same feedback from women supervisors. There was no effect of supervisor gender when the feedback was positive (i.e., high warmth) or neutral. In Study 2, negative feedback from men supervisors, regardless of evaluative dimension (competence or warmth) resulted in women reporting decreased professional aspirations. This relationship was mediated by women's attribution of supervisor feedback to gender biases. Together, these findings suggest that same‐gender supervisors can potentially buffer women's long term professional aspirations after a discouraging performance review.     

A Taste for Justice: Unpacking Identity Politics in a Nascent Democracy

This article examines attention to justice cues in the novel context of the nascent democracy of Tanzania. Using secondary national survey data, we illustrate Tanzanian citizens' attention to justice cues. We then test two competing hypotheses about the impact of religious identity on attention to justice cues. The first hypothesized model, based on System Justification Theory, predicts that subordinate group members (Muslims) will stay more loyal than dominant group members (Christians) to their government due to a decreased attention to justice cues. The second hypothesized model, based on the relational model of procedural justice, predicts that subordinate group members (Muslims) will dissent more than dominant group members (Christians) from their government due to an increased attention to justice cues. Multiple regression and mediational analyses indicate support for the procedural justice framework, with trust in the dominant political party mediating the relationship between process satisfaction and party identification. Implications for political and psychological theorizing about democratic processes will be discussed.     

Inhibition of Return in children with Tourette's syndrome and comorbid forms: A Preliminary Study

Background: This study investigated the nature and functioning of the visual-spatial inhibition of return (IOR) phenomenon in children with “pure” Tourette's syndrome (TS), and those with comorbid forms of TS. Method: Children with TS-only and “TS + comorbid” (TS + ADHD +/- OCD) and matched controls performed the inhibition of return (IOR) task, which involved responding to left and right visual targets appearing on a computer screen that were preceded by congruent or incongruent exogenous visual cues. Results: The TS-only group performed similarly on the IOR task to the controls. When the TS-only group was subdivided into children with mild and severe TS symptoms, a post hoc comparison between the controls and severe TS symptom children revealed that these TS children had a reduced magnitude of IOR for targets appearing in the right visual field. The comparison between the TS + comorbid and controls revealed an atypical IOR pattern for the TS + comorbid group. They displayed a loss of normal facilitatory and inhibitory effects for right visual field targets. Conclusions: The findings suggest abnormalities in attentional “disengage” and “move” mechanisms in TS when directing attention to the right visual field, which may reflect left posterior parietal, superior colliculus, and midbrain pathology.     

Cultural knowledge,category label,and social connections: Components of cultural identity in the global,multicultural context

Cultural identity refers to the psychological connection between an individual's self and a culture. In this paper, we identify three components that make up an individual's cultural identity – cultural knowledge, category label, and social connections. The cultural knowledge component connects an individual with a culture through the individual's direct endorsement of what are widely known to be the culture's central characteristics. The category label component connects an individual with a culture through the individual's depersonalized membership in a cultural collective. The social connections component connects an individual with a culture through networks of specific social relationships. The three components are conceptually distinct, and yet may have interconnections in influencing the development of cultural identity. We examine the implications of the three components on cultural identification processes in the context of multiculturalism and global cultural contact.     

Toward an Analytical Model of Ethical Decision Making in Plagiarism

Plagiarism by students is a common and worldwide phenomenon with a significant impact on our society. Numerous studies on the pervasive nature of plagiarism among students have focused on the behavioral aspects of plagiarism and how to prevent it. Based on an empirical study of a sample of 463 eighth graders in Hong Kong, this article offers an analytical model to understand the ethical decision-making process in plagiarism among students. Using this model, students' plagiaristic behavior can be analyzed in terms of their moral judgment, moral intensity, and perceived risks.     

Using session-by-session measurement to compare mechanisms of action for acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive therapy

Debate continues about the extent to which postulated mechanisms of action of cognitive behavior therapies (CBT), including standard CBT (i.e., Beckian cognitive therapy [CT]) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are supported by mediational analyses. Moreover, the distinctiveness of CT and ACT has been called into question. One contributor to ongoing uncertainty in this arena is the lack of time-varying process data. In this study, 174 patients presenting to a university clinic with anxiety or depression who had been randomly assigned to receive either ACT or CT completed an assessment of theorized mediators and outcomes before each session. Hierarchical linear modeling of session-by-session data revealed that increased utilization of cognitive and affective change strategies relative to utilization of psychological acceptance strategies mediated outcome for CT, whereas for ACT the mediation effect was in the opposite direction. Decreases in self-reported dysfunctional thinking, cognitive "defusion" (the ability to see one's thoughts as mental events rather than necessarily as representations of reality), and willingness to engage in behavioral activity despite unpleasant thoughts or emotions were equivalent mediators across treatments. These results have potential implications for the theoretical arguments behind, and distinctiveness of, CT and ACT.