Summary

The City University of Hong Kong conducted this study in partnership with The Women's Foundation to investigate the relationship between the psychosocial well-being of secondary school students in Hong Kong and the importance they attach to hope, virtues, emotion regulation and attention to positive/negative information

Study 1 was a cross-sectional survey study with 712 students from three different secondary schools. The students' levels of hope, virtues, emotion regulation, attention to positive/negative information, and psychosocial well-being were assessed. Hope and virtues were found to be strongly predictive of psychosocial well-being of secondary school students. A conceptual model was developed to reveal the underlying dynamic of the relationship between hope and virtues and psychosocial wellbeing. The results revealed that their attention to positive information is also a significant factor in affecting the psychosocial well-being of secondary school students. 

Study 2 was a computerised study involving 91 participants selected from the pool of Study 1 participants. Positive and negative attentional biases were computed by averaging reaction times to emotional stimuli presented in the experiment. Significant associations between positive attentional bias and psychosocial well-being were found in Form 2 students, revealing the importance of positive attention in information processing.

The results of this research highlight the importance of hope, virtues, and attention to positive information on the psychosocial well-being of secondary school students.The findings support the need for Hong Kong to develop a comprehensive programme to strengthen teenagers’ resilience, particularly the enhancement of hope and virtues as well as cognitive tools to increase their attention to positive information. It was also felt that a further study on the developmental trajectory of the attentional preference of teens would be helpful.