{"title":"Evaluation of a community-based positive youth development program for adolescents with greater psychosocial needs: views of the program participants","authors":"D. Shek, Cecilia M. S. Ma, M. Law, Zoe Zhao","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present study attempted to investigate the perceptions of Chinese secondary school students with greater psychosocial needs of the Tier 2 Program in the community-based phase of P.A.T.H.S. Project in Hong Kong (n=4245). Using a subjective outcome evaluation tool (Form C), the results revealed that a great majority of the students held positive attitudes toward the program, implementers and the effectiveness of the program. Also, the three domains of the program (“program quality”, “implementer quality” and “program effectiveness”) were significantly associated with each other. In line with previous findings, both program content and program implementer quality were significant predictors of program effectiveness. The current findings further reinforce the thesis that the community-based Tier 2 programs of the P.A.T.H.S. Project are effective in promoting the holistic development of adolescents with greater psychosocial needs in Hong Kong.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"16 1","pages":"387 - 393"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-7007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67003041","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":"Longitudinal studies on adolescents in Hong Kong: a review","authors":"D. Shek, C. S. Ng","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A literature review based on PsycINFO and MEDLINE was conducted to understand longitudinal adolescent studies in Hong Kong. Based on a review of 23 studies, several observations can be highlighted. First, there are very few positive youth development programs. Second, many intervention studies have not been rigorously evaluated. Third, many survey studies focused primarily on the negative aspects of youth development, neglecting the positive dimensions. Fourth, while the sample size of most studies is respectable, very few studies used random sampling. Fifth, most studies used quantitative research methods, with very few studies using qualitative or mixed research methods. Sixth, only two waves of data were collected in most studies. Seventh, advanced statistical data analysis techniques were seldom employed. Finally, assessment tools in some of the studies were not validated.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"367 - 375"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002223","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":"Longitudinal research design in adolescent developmental research","authors":"D. Shek, C. S. Ng","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In adolescent developmental research, cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs are commonly used. In this paper, examples of adolescent developmental research utilizing cross-sectional designs are presented and the basic attributes, strengths and weaknesses of cross-sectional designs are outlined. Besides, examples of longitudinal adolescent developmental research as well as its characteristics, advantages and pitfalls are examined. Based on this review, it is argued that longitudinal research design plays an important role in adolescent developmental research. Implications of the present review on the design of longitudinal adolescent research studies in the Chinese context are discussed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"591 1","pages":"349 - 358"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002664","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":"Cognitive competence in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: a six-year longitudinal study","authors":"D. Shek, Xiaodie Pu","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The developmental trend and correlates of adolescent cognitive competence were examined in a 6-year longitudinal study in Hong Kong. From Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 years, the same cohort of high school students responded to validated measures of cognitive competence, socio-demographic status (i.e. gender, family intactness and economic disadvantage) and family processes (i.e. family functioning, father-child subsystem quality and mother-child subsystem quality). Results indicated that there was a rising trend of cognitive competence over the high school years. Adolescents with better family functioning or better father-child or mother-child subsystem quality demonstrated higher initial level of cognitive competence. However, adolescents with better family functioning showed slower growth rate on cognitive competence over time. Finally, teenage boys showed faster growth rate on cognitive competence than did teenage girls.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"409 - 421"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002352","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":"The influence of positive youth development and family functioning on adolescent academic adjustment in families with parental divorce or separation","authors":"D. Shek, Florence K. Y. Wu","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Based on the five waves of longitudinal data (n=3328 at Wave 1), the influence of positive youth development (PYD) attributes and family functioning on academic adjustment and academic stress in adolescents growing up in families with parental separation or divorce at Time 1 was examined. Compared with adolescents without the experience of parental divorce or separation, adolescents with such experiences displayed poorer wellbeing and academic adjustment as well as higher risk behavior. At Wave 5, both PYD and family functioning positively predicted academic adjustment but negatively predicted study stress. Longitudinally, Wave 1 PYD predicted school adjustment at Wave 3 and perception of the new secondary school curriculum at Wave 5. While Wave 4 PYD had an influence on all academic-related measures at Wave 5, Wave 4 family functioning predicted school conduct at Wave 5 only. The protective role of PYD and family functioning in academic resilience in adolescents growing up in non-intact families is discussed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"443 - 453"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002928","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":"A 6-year longitudinal study of social competence amongst Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong","authors":"D. Shek, Xiang Li, Lu-yin Liang","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In response to the severe lack of longitudinal data on adolescent development, we conducted a 6-year longitudinal study examining the change and psychosocial correlates of social competence in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. During the high school years (Secondary 1 to Secondary 6), participants responded to measures of social competence, socio-demographic characteristics (gender, family intactness and economic disadvantage) and family processes (father-child relational quality, mother-child relational quality and family functioning). Results showed that social competence dropped across the six waves. While gender, father-child subsystem quality, mother-child subsystem quality, and family functioning significantly predicted social competence at the initial level, rate of decrease in social competence was greater for adolescents who came from intact families, had better mother-child subsystem quality, and reported better family functioning. Economic disadvantage was the only factor that did not affect the development of social competence in adolescents.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"423 - 432"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002742","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":"Positive youth development and academic behavior in Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong","authors":"D. Shek, Florence K. Y. Wu","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract With the launching of the education reform in Hong Kong, the secondary school structure was changed from 7 years to 6 years in the 2006–07 school year. This paper describes Secondary four students’ views about the new secondary school curriculum, including their confidence and related stress. The students were also asked to assess the importance of life skills and its perceived adequacy in the formal curriculum. Results showed that roughly four-tenths of the students did not feel confident about their study and around six-tenths felt stressed. Although most of the students agreed that life skills were important, around 37% of them thought that the coverage of such knowledge in the formal curriculum was not adequate. Consistent with our hypotheses, academic confidence, academic stress, support provided by the school, and positive youth development were significantly related, with positive youth development predicting academic confidence.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"455 - 459"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002943","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":"Longitudinal adolescent studies in Mainland China: review and reflection","authors":"D. Shek, Xiang Li","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Longitudinal studies are important for understanding adolescent development. In this study, eight examples of longitudinal adolescent research in different fields in Mainland China were examined. The review showed that longitudinal studies in Mainland China were grossly inadequate. There were also few studies on adolescent life satisfaction, sensitive developmental issues (such as sexuality and suicide) and program evaluation. Panel study was the dominant longitudinal design but most of them did not have many time points for data collection. Most studies were based on convenience sampling and some adolescent sub-populations, while adolescents in rural areas and those with disabilities were not adequately covered. Finally, most of the tools used were self-report measures and validated measures are desperately needed.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"359 - 366"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002209","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":"Assessing learning gains of university students in Hong Kong adopting the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+)","authors":"D. Shek, Lu Yu, K. Chan, Wynants Ho","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2015-6001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2015-6001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present study attempted to examine students’ learning gains in critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication after 1-year university study under a new 4-year undergraduate curriculum based on students’ performance on the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+). One hundred and fifty freshmen and 150 sophomores at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) completed the CLA+ in 2013–2014 academic year. Results showed that sophomores had better performance in CLA+ than freshmen on problem solving, effective communication, and critical thinking. Compared with freshmen, fewer sophomores were classified as ‘Below Basic’ at mastering the related skills. The findings support the effectiveness of the new 4-year undergraduate curriculum, particularly the General University Requirements, in promoting students’ development in desired graduate attributes. However, students’ language barrier might affect their CLA+ scores which led to the small effect size in the differences between freshmen and sophomores.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"331 - 337"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2015-6001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67002186","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}
Jhon Fredy Ramírez Villada, Henry Humberto Leon Ariza, Alveiro Sánchez Jiménez, Celia Mónica Sepúlveda
{"title":"Alterations in body composition, capillary glucose and functionality during explosive strength training in older women","authors":"Jhon Fredy Ramírez Villada, Henry Humberto Leon Ariza, Alveiro Sánchez Jiménez, Celia Mónica Sepúlveda","doi":"10.1515/ijdhd-2015-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2015-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background: Although strength training interventions has positive effects for functional performance of elderly people, others studies suggest that muscle power and/or explosive force may change aspects related to functional independence, incidence of falling and functional motor performance. This is the reason why we here propose to examine the effects of explosive strength training on body composition, functional performance and capillary glucose in old women. Methods: Sixty healthy women (59.45±6.43 years) who volunteered for the study and were divided to either a jump group (JG), concurrent jumps and high velocity movements on multi station machines group (JMG) or control group (CG) for 22 weeks. JG and JMG trained three times a week during a 22-week period, and CG performed only recreational activities by themselves. Body composition and functionality tests were applied before and after the training program and capillary glucose was taken before and after every functional testing. Results: There were differences in the percentage of body fat (JG vs. JMG vs. CG, p=0.001), muscle mass (JG vs. JMG vs. CG p=0.05), explosive strength (JG vs. JMG vs. CG, p=0.001), shuttle run test 30 m (JG vs. JMG vs. CG, p=0.002), velocity-agility 30 m (JG vs. JMG vs. CG, p=0.02) and glycemic (JG vs. JMG vs. CG, p=0.01) with positive modifications in the strength training groups. Conclusion: The concurrent explosive jumps and high velocity movements on multi station machines optimize positive changes in body composition, capillary glucose and functionality compared with explosive jumps training alone.","PeriodicalId":50278,"journal":{"name":"International Journal on Disability and Human Development","volume":"15 1","pages":"251 - 259"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/ijdhd-2015-0011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67001692","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}