Objective: The mental health of tertiary education students is an area of increasing concern worldwide. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong.
Method: Depression, anxiety and stress were measured by the 42-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, completed on the web by participating students anonymously. Results: A total of 7915 students completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 27.5%. Depression, anxiety and stress levels of moderate severity or above were found in 21%, 41% and 27% of our respondents, respectively.
Conclusions: The web-based survey methodology was well accepted by our sample group of tertiary education students. We found high rates of psychological morbidity in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong. The high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in the first year of college life is alarming. It illustrates the need for primary and secondary prevention measures, with development of adequate and appropriate support services for this group.
[Copyright of Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1614.2006.01883.x]

The primary purpose of this study was to test for the validity of a Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (C-BDI-II) for use with Hong Kong community (i.e., nonclinical) adolescents. Based on a randomized triadic split of the data (N = 1460), we conducted exploratory factor analysis on Group1 (n = 486) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) within the framework of structural equation modeling on Groups 2 (n = 487) and 3 (n = 487); the second CFA served as a cross-validation of the determined factor structure. Factor analytic results, based on a 4-factor structure that comprised 1 2nd-order general factor of Depression and 3 1st-order factors representing Negative Attitude, Performance Difficulty, and Somatic Elements, replicated those reported previously for Canadian (Byrne&Baron, 1993), Swedish (Byrne, Baron, Larsson,&Melin, 1995), and Bulgarian (Byrne, Baron,&Balev, 1998) nonclinical adolescents. Based on this cross-validated factor structure, findings related to internal consistency reliability, stability over a 6-month time lag, and relations with relevant external criteria provided strong support for the valid use of the C-BDI-II in measuring depressive symptoms for Hong Kong community adolescents.
[Copyright of International Journal of Testing is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327574ijt0403_1]

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between thinking styles and the big five personality traits. One-hundred-and-fifty-four (mean age 20 years) second-year university students from Hong Kong participated in the study. Participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory based on Sternberg's theory of mental self-government and to the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI, Costa & McCare, 1992). Although significant relationships were identified between particular thinking styles and certain personality traits, it was concluded that it is premature to claim that a personality measure, such as the NEO-FFI can be used to measure thinking styles.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410120101224]

The present study looks at how family processes and the classroom norms influence students' employment of learning strategy in junior secondary schools in Hong Kong. It employed an ecological perspective to look at how family factors and classroom factors uniquely and combined to influence students. Nineteen secondary schools with 948 Secondary 2 students and their family members participated in the cross-sectional survey for the research. Findings of the study suggest that peer victimization norm in the classroom plays a moderating role in the association between socioeconomic background and students' use of achievement strategy in learning Chinese. The result of the research is suggested to have important implications for home-school relations in Hong Kong, as well as the restructuring of the school process to create a more supportive and nurturing environment for learning and teaching.
[Copyright of Journal of School Violence is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J202v07n01_04]

A survey of undergraduate students in Australia and Hong Kong revealed that a specially adapted version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (the MBI-SS) possesses good internal consistency reliability among construction students. A three-component model of student burnout, comprising emotional exhaustion, cynicism and personal efficacy was supported in both the Australian and Hong Kong samples. Burnout levels among construction students were similar to those reported in previous non-construction student samples. Both Australian and Hong Kong construction students reported higher personal efficacy than non-construction students. Australian students expressed considerably higher cynicism in relation to their university education than the Hong Kong students. The three dimensions of burnout were differentially correlated with work, study and socio-economic variables. In Australia, student burnout was associated with a perceived tension between paid work and study. In Hong Kong, the demands of study and concern with the economy were significant correlates of student burnout.
[Copyright of Construction Management and Economics is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01446190600599145 ]