Background: Sleep deprivation is common among teenagers. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep duration, wake/sleep symptoms, and academic performance among Hong Kong students.
Materials and methods: The sleep habit questionnaires were distributed to all Year 11 students at an international school that catered to different ethnic groups in Hong Kong. Analysis of various parameters of academic performance and sleep habits and their relationships were undertaken.
Results: Fifty-nine students were recruited. The average sleep duration in this group was 7.23 h. The overall prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (defined as an Epworth Sleepiness Scale score of >10) was 25.4%. Eleven subjects had excessive class sleepiness, defined as high likelihood to fall asleep during at least one school session. Mathematics performance was positively correlated with sleep duration. Excessive sleepiness on rising was identified as a significant risk factor for poor performance in English and Mathematics. Sleepiness during the third and fourth lessons was identified as a significant risk factor for poor performance in Mathematics only.
Conclusion: Sleep deprivation was common in the studied cohort and it was associated with a decrease in Mathematics performance. Excessive sleepiness on rising and sleepiness during third and fourth lessons were associated with poorer grades in Mathematics and English. Excessive daytime sleepiness was reported in 25% of students. Bruxism and snoring were associated with excessive daytime sleepiness.
[Copyright of Sleep and Breathing is the property of Springer. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11325-009-0255-5]

The rationale for this study is that students' views on their own learning play an integral part in their educational journeys. Students' voice has been gaining recognition as a vehicle for cultivating ownership of learning, restoring classroom dialogue, and developing strategies for school improvement. These benefits echo the pedagogical purposes of drama education. This study examines how a group of primary students in Hong Kong relate drama pedagogy to their learning in two curriculum subjects: Chinese Language and General Studies. Working with a group of primary students introduced to drama as a medium of learning for the first time, the researcher seeks to find out what aspects of the drama programme is seen by the students as pertinent to their learning in these subjects. The students generally found the Process Drama units more closely related to the learning in General Studies than Chinese Language. Factors influencing their views include the learning focus of the Process Drama work, students' beliefs about learning in these two school subjects, and the pedagogical approaches previously adopted in their school.
[Copyright of Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569780902868770]

This study aimed to compare the adaptation of two groups of migrant Chinese adolescents with their nonmigrant peers. The migrant adolescents included 55 Chinese migrant adolescents who migrated to Australia (Chinese-Australian) and 111 China-born adolescents who migrated to Hong Kong (Chinese-Hong Kong). The nonmigrant adolescents included 157 Anglo-Australian adolescents residing in Australia and 456 Hong Kong-born Chinese adolescents residing in Hong Kong. There were three research questions in this study. First, would there be any differences in the adaptation of Chinese migrant adolescents in different societies of settlement? Second, would migrant adolescents experience more adaptation problems than nonmigrant adolescents? Third, would there be any differences in the adaptation of adolescents in the two societies, Australia and Hong Kong? It was hypothesized that: (1) mainland Chinese migrant adolescents in Hong Kong would experience more adaptation problems than Chinese migrant adolescents in Australia; (2) migrant adolescents would report better adaptation than nonmigrant adolescents; (3) adolescents in Hong Kong would report poorer adaptation than adolescents in Australia. The participants were requested to complete a questionnaire on various adaptation outcome measures including life satisfaction, self-esteem, psychological symptoms, academic satisfaction, and behaviour problems. The results indicated that Chinese-Australian adolescents reported better psychological adaptation but Chinese-Hong Kong adolescents reported better sociocultural adaptation. Adolescents resident in Australia reported higher psychological adaptation but lower sociocultural adaptation than those in Hong Kong. Migrant adolescents reported better psychological and sociocultural adaptation than their nonmigrant counterparts. The results were discussed in relation to the social and educational systems of the two societies.
[Copyright of International Journal of Psychology is the property

Background: Many doctors experience psychological ill health. Interns are known to be particularly vulnerable.
Aim: To examine the level of depression, anxiety and stress in interns in Hong Kong, as well as the causes and how they cope.
Methods: A questionnaire was designed based on the themes identified in three focus groups of medical graduates of Year 2004 of the University of Hong Kong. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS 21) was also administered. All 155 graduates of the same year were invited to participate with a response rate of 63%.
Results: Percentages of respondents with abnormal levels of depression, anxiety and stress were 35.8%, 35.4% and 29.2%, respectively. Frequent calls during night shift, long working hours and heavy workload constituted the most significant stressors. Factor analysis of the stressors showed that seven factors could explain 68% of the total variance: multidisciplinary team working issues, clinical difficulties, job seeking and employment, workload issues, ethical and interpersonal issues, adjustment to job rotation and performance appraisal. Holidays, peers and sleep offered the most significant relief.
Conclusion: Interns experience considerable depression, anxiety and stress. The source of stress is multi-faceted, but workload is the most significant stressor. Peer support groups may relief stress.
[Copyright of Medical Teacher is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/01421590903449894]

Collaborating with universities in Hong Kong, Finland, the United Kingdom and Australia the research project outlined in this paper takes up one of the key initial findings related to the importance of children's online spaces away from school. The project brings together complementary strengths from each partner nation to assist our mutual need to understand the worlds of our young "netizens" - the new public citizens of cyberspace. Differing in social and cultural context, each setting is recognised as a strong contributor to understanding the competencies of young people's digital expertise. We work from the shared view that the arrival ofWeb 2.0 and 3.0 social networking tools is educationally challenging and demands futuristic thinking for sustainable education and social connectivity globally. Our research aim is to use a common research design to discover how young people are behaving in the new online spaces; what guides their decision-making; and what, if any, common values appear to emerge when results between countries are compared. Locally derived knowledge gained from samples of 12-year-olds will be subjected to cross-cultural comparisons and validation. In doing so, we make some assumptions about the homogenising process that shared global networks may be fostering. Bringing together these contributions will strengthen the decision-making process and provide new knowledge about meaning making, agency and citizenship for the twenty-first-century e-democracy. This paper reports on the conceptual process underlying the research and the research design.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382040903251158]