Paternal and Maternal Experiences in Caring for Chinese Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Hong Kong

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study that (i) identified parental stress and competence, parents’ perception of their children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and the parent‐child relationship in caring for children with ADHD; (ii) compared paternal and maternal experiences in these areas; and (iii) examined the effect of children's ADHD behavior on paternal and maternal experiences in Hong Kong Chinese parents. Seventy‐two (59.5%) mothers and 49 (40.5%) fathers participated in the study, in which data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that: (i) mothers’ level of parental stress was higher than fathers’, but paternal and maternal competence in child‐rearing did not significantly vary; (ii) mothers perceived the child's ADHD behavior more seriously than fathers; (iii) both mothers and fathers had positive perceptions of their parent‐child relationship; and (iv) gender, employment, ADHD symptoms, and parental satisfaction explained the significant variance in parental stress but did not explain the significant variance in parental competence. Implications for social work practice and service development are discussed.     

Multiple Family Group Therapy for Families with Children Placed in Out-Of-Home Care in a Chinese Context

Since the 1980s, the family-centered approach has been widely adopted in the west (e.g., the United States) as an approach to serving children living in an out-of-home care context. In comparison, in Hong Kong, out-of-home care services tend to be child-centered and child-protection oriented. This article (1) examines the child welfare service, specifically out-of-home care services, in Hong Kong and (2) makes the case for integrating family-centered out-of-home care services for children. Three vignettes are presented that demonstrate the use of Multiple Family Group Therapy (MFGT) to promote family-centered practice. The article concludes with a discussion of challenges and recommendations related to a shift to family-centered practice.     

Evaluating Group Work within a Summer Camp Intervention for Children and Adolescents with Asthma

Findings suggest that residential camps and group work within camps are highly valued by children and their parents. Children predominantly valued recreational and educational aspects of camp programming whereas parents emphasized appreciation for the safety that a condition-specific camp can offer a child with illness. Within the camp program, group work and peer support were integrally provided along with clinical monitoring and health teaching. A psychoeducational approach was implemented in which group participants engaged in sessions addressing self-care strategies and constructive ways to integrate childhood asthma in daily life. Participants identified the residential camp setting as a promising environment for group work among children and adolescents with asthma. Implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Evaluation of a Support Group for Parents of Children Hospitalized for Cancer and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

ABSTARCT

Social isolation and high levels of psychosocial stress are common among parents of children who are hospitalized for cancer treatment. Many hospital-based programs offer support groups for parents, however there is little published guidance or systematic evidence on their effectiveness. This study describes the development and program evaluation of a 16-week parent support group offered to parents (N = 10) of children hospitalized for pediatric cancer or bone-marrow transplant. A summary of the pilot evaluation is provided and successes, barriers, and areas for future improvement are discussed.     

The Journey of Hope: A Group Work Intervention for Children Who Have Experienced a Collective Trauma

This article presents the Journey of Hope, a school-based group work intervention for children and early adolescents who have experienced a collective trauma such as a natural disaster. This broad-based intervention takes an ecological approach to prevention and treatment and focuses on normalizing emotions and building coping skills after a disaster. Through the use of group work interventions such as use of rituals, group problem solving, and experiential and reflective learning, children and early adolescents work toward enhancing protective factors to help them in their recovery. Considering the short- and long-term emotional strains children may experience after a disaster, such group programs should be more widely accessible in schools.     

Emotion Socialization in the Context of Risk and Psychopathology: Maternal Emotion Coaching Predicts Better Treatment Outcomes for Emotionally Labile Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

We examined whether maternal emotion coaching at pretreatment predicted children's treatment response following a 12‐week program addressing children's oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms. A total of 89 mother–child dyads participated. At pretreatment, mothers and children engaged in an emotion talk task. Mothers also reported their beliefs about emotions at pretreatment and their child's disruptive behavior symptoms, emotion regulation, and emotion lability/negativity at pre‐, mid‐, and post‐treatment. Clinicians reported children's symptom severity at pre‐ and post‐treatment. Children's emotion lability/negativity moderated effects of maternal emotion coaching on children's post‐treatment ODD symptoms, with stronger benefits of emotion coaching for children high in emotion lability/negativity. Results suggest that emotion coaching may promote treatment response for children with ODD who are especially at risk due to their emotionality.     

On Getting over Oneself and Creating Space for All Voices in Group Work with Adolescents

As social group workers we may come to value all the trappings associated with becoming credentialed professionals, however there will always be moments in our groups when we cannot help but feeling like helpless amateurs. It is never easy to accept and hold on to these two contradictory states at the same time. Nevertheless, we must remain present and get over ourselves to create a space for all voices. This plenary discusses these and related ideas for hanging in there with our groups and illustrates groups that are struggling with issues including bias, bullying, grief, and trauma from individual change and social goals perspectives. Although adolescent groups are used as illustrations, the lessons herein are universal.     

Parenting Stress and Perceived Family Functioning of Chinese Parents in Hong Kong: Implications for Social Work Practice

This article reports the results of a telephone survey (n = 1002) conducted in November 2008, which aimed to identify parenting stress and perceived family functioning of Chinese parents in Hong Kong; to explore the effects of the parents’ socio‐demographic characteristics (gender, family income, education and family structure) on the aforementioned stress and functioning variables; and to examine the interrelationship among these characteristics and the two variables in question. Results showed that the reported parenting stress was at average level, while the perceived family functioning was slightly below average. The results also indicated that the parenting stress of mothers, single parents, the low‐income and the less‐educated was higher than that of fathers, parents of nuclear and extended families, the high‐income and the better‐educated. Socio‐demographic characteristics except the parent’s gender had similar effects on perceived family functioning. Higher parenting stress was associated with lower family functioning, and explained a larger variance in the perceived family functioning than the socio‐demographic characteristics taken alone. The results of the study have provided empirical support regarding the interrelationships among the vulnerable groups in society, parenting stress and perceived family functioning. Implications of the study for social work practice are discussed.     

Self-perceptions of Social Competence and Self-worth in Chinese Children: Relations with Social and School Performance

The purpose of the study was to examine relations between self‐perceptions of social competence and general self‐worth and social and school performance in Chinese children. A sample of children, initially aged 12 years, in the People's Republic of China, participated in this longitudinal study. Data on self‐perceptions were collected from self‐reports. Data on social and school performance were obtained from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings and school records. The results indicated that relations between self‐perceptions and performance might vary across domains. Self‐perceptions of self‐worth and school competence mutually contributed to the prediction of each other. Whereas sociability and aggression predicted self‐perceptions of social competence and self‐worth, positive self‐perceptions might be a protective factor that buffered against the development of social‐behavioral problems. The results may help us understand developmental antecedents and outcomes of children's self‐perceptions of social competence and self‐worth in general, and the nature of the phenomena in the Chinese context.     

Recruitment and Retention in a Parenting Intervention: A Case Study with Parents Aging Out of the Child Welfare System

ABSTRACT

Parenting interventions are efficacious in reducing child maltreatment and negative child behaviors, yet the recruitment and retention of parents, especially vulnerable parents, in such interventions can be challenging. Prior research identifies several ways to improve recruitment and retention including laying the foundation for the intervention, fostering relationships with parents, ensuring fit of the intervention with the intended population, and identifying barriers to parents’ participation. This case study presents a process of recruiting and retaining a vulnerable group of parents, specifically parenting youth aging out of the child welfare system. In addition to outlining the strategies used, lessons learned are highlighted. Parents expressed interest in the parenting intervention, experienced significant needs, negotiated great instability in their lives, and valued the social connections facilitated by the group intervention. Despite the research team following best practices and investing significant time and resources, recruitment and retention remained challenging. Implications for future work in this area are presented.     

Use of Nondeliberative Practice in Groups for Older Adults with Substance Use and Mental Health Disorder: Group in an Art Gallery

ABSTRACT

This article presents an application of Norma Lang’s nondeliberative theory in groupwork with clients of Community Outreach Programs in Addictions (COPA), a Toronto community-based organization that assists adults age 55 and older who struggle with addictions and mental health. The article illustrates how we challenged concepts of group work which are predominantly discussion-based problem solving or premeditated by hosting a group in a major art gallery with clients considered difficult to serve. What was done is juxtaposed with what might have been done with greater knowledge of nondeliberative theory.     

Perceived social support,perception of competence,and hope among Chinese children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a Chinese context: Children's perspective

This paper reports on the results of a study (n = 113 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that examined the effects of the children's perception of the social support (PSS) they receive from their mothers, fathers, teachers, and friends on their sense of competence and hope. PSS explained 13% of the children's overall sense of competence and 4% of their sense of hope. In the perspective of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the amount of maternal support, both in terms of importance and availability, was higher than that of their paternal support. However, the results of a multiple regression analysis have shown that paternal support accounted for 3% of the variance in the children's overall sense of competence and 5% in the variance of their physical competence. PSS from teachers had significantly explained 5%, 4%, and 4% of the variance in the children's overall, social, and physical competence, respectively. The PSS from friends significantly explained 7% of the variance in the children's cognitive competence and 4% of the variance in hope. Theoretical and clinical implications of the study are discussed.     

The Effect of Socioeconomic Status and Family Structure on Parental Warmth and Parental Control in a Chinese Context: Implications for Social Work Practice

We report the results of a telephone survey conducted in 2008 in Hong Kong, which aimed to identify Chinese parents' parental warmth and parental control (guan) and to explore their relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics of the parents. The respondents perceived themselves to be warm (mean = 3.44) and educating their child (mean = 3.46). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the five sociodemographic characteristics explained 15.8% and 8.2% of the variance in parental warmth and guan respectively. The mothers were warmer than the fathers; parents with higher monthly household income, higher educational attainment and with their smallest child young in age were warmer than parents of lower household income, lower educational attainment and with their smallest child older in age. However, parental guan did not vary among the five sociodemographic characteristics except educational attainment. Implications of the study for social work practice are discussed.     

Emotions, self-interest and support for social welfare in a Chinese society with reference to a Dutch study on welfare legitimacy

This article aims at contributing to a better understanding of welfare legitimacy in different institutional contexts. It examines whether or not emotions are important for welfare legitimacy by using survey findings from a representative sample of Chinese residents in Hong Kong. It follows a Dutch study of a similar nature, but finds that the Chinese exhibit a different response pattern towards the emotional motives of moral obligation and empathy and the non-emotional motives of self-interest, probably as a result of the perception of the residual nature of the Chinese welfare system. In the Chinese case, personal characteristics carry different effects compared with those found in the Dutch study. A further finding is that both emotional motives and self-interest motives are significant for hypothetical choices of welfare alternatives. But their effects are marginal, though striking in comparison with other determinant variables. In conclusion, the article argues that reciprocal self-interest is progressive, an idea that is unlikely to be honoured by many welfare state theorists such as Richard Titmuss.