THE RELATIONSHIP OF PARENTING STYLES ON MENTAL HEALTH: LOOKING AT THE MEDIATION OF RESILIENCE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MACAO

ABSTRACT

MACAU IS OFTEN AFFECTED BY TYPHOONS AND RAINSTORMS, ESPECIALLY DURING SUMMER AND AUTUMN, THERE ARE ALSO AN INCREASING NUMBER OF NATURAL DISASTERS DUE TO THE CURRENT CLIMATE CHANGE. ON TOP OF THAT, IN 2017, TREMENDOUS DEVASTATION WAS CAUSED BY TYPHOON HATO. HOWEVER, THERE IS ONLY LIMITED RESEARCH ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON MACAU RESIDENTS. THIS STUDY AIMS TO DEVELOP CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE PSYCHOMETRIC INSTRUMENTS TO ASSESS FEARS AND EMERGENCY REACTION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS FROM MACAU. BY APPLYING THIS INSTRUMENTS TO MACAU CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS, THE STUDY AIMS TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF PREPAREDNESS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN EMERGENCIES, FILL THE RESEARCH GAP, AND CONTRIBUTE TO FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES TO PREPARE THEM FOR FUTURE NATURAL DISASTERS. SPECIFICALLY, THIS STUDY AIMS TO ADOPT THE EMERGENCY REACTION QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS (ERQ-CA) AND THE SHORT FORM OF THE FEAR SURVEY SCHEDULE FOR CHILDREN-REVISED (FSSC-R-SF) AND TO EXAMINE THEIR PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES WITH A SAMPLE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN MACAU. FIRSTLY, THE ERQ-CA AND FSSC-R-SF WERE TRANSLATED INTO CHINESE, AND 6 CHILDREN AGED 8-9 WERE INVITED TO TAKE THE THINK-ALOUD-PROTOCOLS (TAP). THE CONTENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES WAS SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS. SECONDLY, THE ERQ-CA AND FSSC-R-SF WERE ADMINISTERED TO 262 CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS AGED 9-15 WHO WERE STUDYING IN NON-HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MACAU. THE QUESTIONNAIRES WERE ANALYSED FOR THEIR RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY. WITH SOME ADJUSTMENTS, THE TWO MACAU VERSIONS OF THE INSTRUMENTS SHOWED SATISFACTORY PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES REGARDING CONSTRUCT VALIDITY, RELIABILITY, AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PRACTICAL USE OF THE ERQ-CA AND THE FSSC-R-SF IN MACAU AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS ARE PRESENTED