The Effect of Poverty on Psychological Well-being of Children

The Effect of Poverty and Income Disparity on the Psychological WellBeing of Hong Kong Children

The aim of this study is to explore the impacts of poverty and income disparity on the psychological well-being of Hong Kong Chinese children.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Child
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaires

Detailed Description

It is well documented that poverty has a negative impact on the physiological well-being of children in the West. There is an imperative need for health care professionals to develop and evaluate interventions to promote the psychological wellbeing of children living in poverty. First, however, it is crucial to assess and understand how the impact of poverty, in particular the impact of income disparity, affects the psychological wellbeing of Hong Kong children before any intervention to promote it can be planned, developed, or evaluated. Unfortunately, while much public concern about poverty has concentrated on children's physical development, the impact of poverty and income disparity on their psychological well-being remains relatively underexplored. Because the cultural context in which they live is drastically different from that of Western children, the way that Chinese children view the nature and meaning of poverty, as well as their responses to it and to any psychosocial interventions, will in all likelihood differ considerably from those of Western children. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the impacts of poverty and income disparity on the psychological well-being of Hong Kong Chinese children.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1725

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Hong Kong SAR, China
    • The University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 13 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Hong Kong Chinese pupils from Grades 5 and 6 of the elementary schools in Hong Kong

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Hong Kong Chinese pupils from Grades 5 and 6 of the elementary schools in Hong Kong
• be able to read Chinese and speak Cantonese
• had to live and go to school in the same district

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with chronic illness or identified cognitive and learning problems

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Children from low-income families; Children from low-income families were invited to fill in a set of questionnaires.	Other: Questionnaires; Participants were asked to respond to the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.
Children from high income families; Children from high-income families were invited to fill in a set of questionnaires.	Other: Questionnaires; Participants were asked to respond to the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Levels of quality of life at baseline	The quality of life of the participants will be measured by the Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). It has 23 items which are grouped into 4 subscales. They are physical functioning (8 items), emotional functioning (5 items), social functioning (5 items) and school functioning (5 items). Participants were asked to rate how often they had experienced problems over the past month on a scale from 0 to 4. Higher scores indicate better quality of life. Participants will be asked to respond to the Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) at baseline.	baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Levels of self-esteem at baseline	The self-esteem of the participants will be measured by the Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). It contains 10 items which are measured on a 4-point Likert scale. Each item is rated from 1 to 4. The higher scores represent the higher levels of global self-esteem of children. Participants will be asked to respond to the Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) at baseline.	baseline
Number of depressive symptoms at baseline	The number of depressive symptoms of the participants will be measured by the Chinese version of The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC). It consists of 20 items that are measured on a 4-point Likert scale in relation to the experience of last week. Each item is rated from 0 to 3. The higher scores of CES-DC indicate the high numbers of depressive symptoms. The cutoff of this scale is 16, which indicates the children currently experiencing a significant level of depressive symptoms Participants will be asked to respond to the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) at baseline.	baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ho Cheung William Li, The University of Hong Kong

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ho KY, Li WH, Chung JO, Lam KK, Chan SS, Xia W. Factors contributing to the psychological well-being for Hong Kong Chinese children from low-income families: a qualitative study. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2016 Sep 8;10(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s13033-016-0088-0. eCollection 2016.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 16, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 19, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): August 24, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 24, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 19, 2016
• Last Verified: August 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: UW12-237

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO