Little is known about parents' perceptions of school counselling in Hong Kong. We adopted an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to investigate Chinese and non-Chinese parents' perceptions. In phase one, 287 parents in Hong Kong were surveyed. Results suggested that Chinese parents had a poorer understanding of counsellors' roles, more negative perceptions of counselling, and were less likely to perceive counselling as beneficial than did non-Chinese parents. In phase two, we interviewed 27 parents. Our findings suggested that cultural stigma and school-related factors accounted for the findings of the phase one study. Schools may consider proactive engagement with parents, and establishing communication which is sensitive to cultural norms to promote a better understanding of and willingness to participate in counselling. Copyright ©2024 Routledge.

This article reported the outcome of an adapted British parenting programme in Hong Kong which aimed at reducing parent-adolescents conflicts. Adolescents' outcome was measured by Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and parent's parenting stress was measured by parenting stress Index short form (PSI-SF). The level of conflict between parents and their adolescents was measured by parent-adolescent conflict scale (PAC). The study showed that parents of the experimental groups showed significant decrease in parenting stress after the programme. SDQ showed significant decrease in adolescents' difficulties and significant decrease in conflict between parents and their adolescents. Significant between group differences was observed between experimental groups and comparison group in parent child dysfunction interaction and granting of autonomy to their children. Participant satisfaction survey indicated majority of parents perceived the programme as helpful to their parenting as well as reducing conflict with their adolescents. The presence study showed a promising design of a parenting programme that support parents of adolescents in facing their conflicts with their adolescents.
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