{"title":"Dreams, aspirations and related constructs in children and adolescents: a literature review","authors":"D. Shek, Florence K. Y. Wu, H. Leung","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Although children and adolescents are often asked about their “dreams” about life, scientific studies of “dreams” and related constructs are grossly inadequate. This paper describes the findings arising from a review study exploring the concepts of dreams, aspirations and related constructs in children and adolescents. Besides an overview of the concept of dream, conceptual features and unique underpinnings of other concepts commonly related to dream, such as “aspirations”, “hope”, “future orientation” and “resilience” are presented in this paper. The research questions surrounding “dream” and related constructs in children and adolescents are presented and future research directions are discussed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"359 - 366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44436291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Individual and family protective factors of intentional and unintentional consumption of online pornography in Hong Kong","authors":"Cecilia M. S. Ma, D. Shek, Catie C W Lai","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The purpose of the current study was to explore how positive youth development and family functioning were related to unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1401 secondary school students (mean age=12.43) participated in the study. Findings suggested that positive youth development and family functioning were associated with lower exposure to online pornography. In particular, higher levels of spirituality, social competence, mutuality and communication were associated with lower levels of both types of exposure to online pornography. Discussion focuses on the importance of promoting positive youth development and family functioning as protective factors against the negative influence of pornography among Chinese adolescents.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"425 - 431"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46202077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paradigm shift in youth development: Development of “soft skills” in adolescents","authors":"D. Shek, J. Leung, J. Merrick","doi":"10.1515/IJDHD-2017-7001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/IJDHD-2017-7001","url":null,"abstract":"In the manufacturing economy, young people are expected to learn “academic” or “technical” knowledge, which enables them to contribute to industrial production. Generally speaking, the term “hard skills” is used to describe knowledge that is “prescribed” in one's formal qualification. An example of hard skills is how one can produce a car through the assemble lines. However, with a shift from manufacturing economy to service economy, young people are expected to gain skills that are nontechnical and widely transferable to different settings, including work and non-work settings [1, 2]. Such skills are often termed “soft skills”, which are basically related to the qualities of an individual [3]. The term “soft skills” has been used interchangeably with other terms such as “generic skills”, “skills of employability”, or “people skills”. While some researchers regard “soft skills” as interpersonal skills or people skills that include communication, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural relationship skills, others have argued that “soft skills” go beyond interpersonal skills to include intrapersonal skills and personal qualities, such as personality, likeability and self-management skills, and virtues such as loyalty, honesty, integrity, and resilience [4, 5]. In short, soft skills include both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship attributes.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"337 - 338"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/IJDHD-2017-7001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42486292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Students’ views on general education: insights gained from the narratives of Chinese students in Hong Kong","authors":"D. Shek, Florence K. Y. Wu, W. Chai","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The General University Requirements (GUR) is a component of the new 4-year undergraduate program at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). This study examined students’ views and experiences of the GUR using a qualitative methodology. Written comments of 240 freshmen, sophomores, and senior-year students with reference to open-ended questions on their memorable experiences in the GUR study were collected. The qualitative findings suggested that students generally had positive views on the GUR in terms of its widely adopted active and experiential learning pedagogy, useful and attractive contents, caring teaching staff, and rich learning outcomes. Challenges were also identified for further improvement of the GUR.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"443 - 450"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45198108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perceived effectiveness and satisfaction of a community-based positive youth development program: findings based on high school students","authors":"D. Shek, J. Leung, M. Law, K. Chan","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study examined participants’ perceptions of a community-based positive youth development (PYD) program (the Project P.A.T.H.S.) based on the responses of 16,420 junior secondary students who joined the program in 2015. Subjective outcome evaluation approach was adopted to examine the students’ views of program content, program instructors, and program effectiveness. Consistent with previous studies, results showed that students generally perceived the program positively, and positive relationships were found amongst the three domains of evaluation. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceived program content and instructor qualities were significant predictors and could explain 35% of the variance in program effectiveness perceived by the participants. The present findings are basically consistent with previous subjective outcome evaluation findings derived from the school-based and community-based programs of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"367 - 375"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41708394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Qualitative evaluation of a service leadership subject in a Chinese context","authors":"D. Shek, Jing Wu, Li Lin, Emma X. P. Pu","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Adopting a qualitative methodology, views of the students on a subject on service leadership were examined. Students taking the subject (n=153) were invited to use descriptors and metaphors to describe their experiences about the subject. Regarding the descriptors given by the students, most of them were positive in nature. Similar positive findings were obtained for the metaphors. The findings are generally consistent with those studies using the same methodology reported in the literature. In conjunction with other evaluation findings, the present findings suggest that students had positive experiences about taking the subject and regarded the subject to be able to promote their service leadership qualities.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"433 - 441"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44341280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Psychological needs, self-regulation, and motivation profiles among a sample of Hong Kong Chinese university students: a person-centered approach","authors":"Cecilia M. S. Ma, D. Shek, Catie C W Lai","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To better understand factors that influence individuals’ motivation to engage in physical activity, this study aimed to identify the motivational profiles among the Chinese university students, compare the motivational profiles between genders, and explore whether satisfaction of various psychological needs vary with different motivational profiles. Two thousand and twenty-two Chinese university students completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing motivation regulation and psychological needs satisfaction. Three motivational profiles were identified for both genders. The overall patterns of the motivational profiles for both genders were similar. However, males (44%) were more likely than their female counterparts (19%) in self-determined profile group. Students with self-determined motivation profile, compared to non self-determined motivation profile, had higher values on three types of needs satisfaction. Findings and implication of the study were discussed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"407 - 416"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46937950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hope, aspirations, and resilience in children and adolescents: a review of research on measurement and related antecedents","authors":"H. Leung, Florence K. Y. Wu, D. Shek","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Hope, aspirations, and resilience are important developmental assets for children and adolescents. Based on the existing Western and Chinese literature, this review aims to identify instruments used to assess hope, aspirations, resilience, and conceptually related constructs as well as antecedents of the constructs in adolescents. A systematic literature search in the major databases was conducted. A total of 223 articles, with 144 being retrieved from international databases and 79 from China’s database, met the criteria and were included in the present review. Findings revealed that the majority of the existing scales were developed predominantly in the West and there were few validated Chinese hope and aspirations scales. Indigenous measures were also not identified in the literature. In terms of antecedent studies, predictors at different levels including the personal, family, school, and community were found. Implications on the development of hope-based interventions and recommendations for future research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"351 - 358"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43120353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dreams, aspirations and related behavior in children and adolescents: impacts on child developmental outcomes","authors":"Florence K. Y. Wu, D. Shek, H. Leung","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract “Dreams”, “aspirations” and related constructs are traditionally regarded as facilitators of adolescent educational attainment in the Chinese context. Besides, there is an emergent need to widen the understanding of such constructs and their impact on children and adolescent developmental outcomes. This paper discusses the developmental outcomes of dreams, aspiration and related concepts based on a thorough review of the literature. Besides outlining the impacts of aspirations, dreams and related constructs on children and adolescents, features of related intervention programs, including themes of the intervention programs, program participants, methods of implementation and evaluation in both Western and Chinese contexts are also documented.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"339 - 349"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48186689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Individual differences in intentional and unintentional exposure to online pornography among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents","authors":"Cecilia M. S. Ma, D. Shek, Catie C W Lai","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The current study aimed to test how gender and religion affect unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1401 secondary school students (age range from 11 to 16 years) participated in the study. Findings from multivariate analyses show that males reported higher levels of unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography than females. Significant differences were found in adolescents’ religiosity, with students who had religious beliefs reporting a lower level of unintentional exposure to online pornography than their counterparts without religious beliefs. In terms of intentional exposure to online pornography, adolescents were more likely to be exposed if they were male and had religious beliefs. Such differences were not found in females. This study demonstrated the influence of demographic characteristics on exposure to online pornography among Chinese adolescents.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"417 - 423"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47023647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}