Jockey Club Support Project

Researchers will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) intervention study targeting cross-boundary families' affect/emotion regulation skills as well as personal and family resilience. Researchers will implement two arms with the allocation ratio of 2:1. As most cross-boundary children are preoccupied with after-school academies and extracurricular activities, participating parents will receive four group activity sessions, while children will receive two sessions. The intervention themes and skills are the same for parents and children but condensed for children.

Researchers will collaborate with the International Social Services Hong Kong Branch (Shenzhen) (hereinafter referred to as "ISS"), an NGO that has served cross-boundary families in Shenzhen for over 30 years.

• Emotion Regulation Skills Training (Behavioral): This arm will receive training in emotion regulation skills, including mindfulness skills to help redeploy their attention, cognitive reappraisal skills to analyze stimuli or emotion-eliciting events from a more comprehensive perspective, situation change skills to regulate emotions by exposing oneself to nature, experiential acceptance skills through metaphor, and breathing techniques. They will also receive training in theories of the family emotion system.
• Moderation in Consumer Electronics Use Training (Behavioral): This arm will be trained to moderate their and their family members' use of commercial electronics. They will do so by learning mechanisms behind addictions, family communication skills, and various substitute activities for commercial electronics usage.

Primary outcomes

• Resilience [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' psychological resilience will be measured by the 25-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Participants will report their perceived psychological resilience of self on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree). Higher total scores indicate higher levels of psychological resilience.
• Cognitive Emotion Regulation [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' use of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies will be measured by corresponding subscales of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). The study will employ five subscales, including acceptance, positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, and putting into perspective, as these strategies are the targets of the intervention. Each subscale includes four items. Participants will report their use of each strategy on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always). Higher scores for each subscale indicate more use of the corresponding cognitive emotion regulation strategy.
• Behavioral Emotion Regulation [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' use of adaptive behavioral emotion regulation strategies will be measured by corresponding subscales of the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ). The study will employ two subscales (seeking distraction and putting into perspective) as these strategies are the targets of the intervention. Each subscale includes four items. Participants will report their use of each strategy on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always). Higher scores for each subscale indicate more use of the corresponding behavioral emotion regulation strategy.
• Affective Experiences [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' affective experiences will be measured by the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short Form (I-PANAS-SF). Participants will report their experienced positive and negative affect on a 10-item, 5-point Likert scale (1 = never; 5 = always). Higher scores indicate higher levels of positive or negative affect.
• Depression and Anxiety Symptoms [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' depression and anxiety symptoms will be measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). On this 4-point Likert scale from 0 to 3, participants will report their frequency of depression and anxiety symptoms. Higher scores indicate more severe symptoms.
• Well-being [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants will also complete the 5-item WHO Well-Being Index (WHO-5). They will report their well-being with a 6-point Likert scale (0 = at no time; 5 = all of the time). Higher scores indicate higher levels of well-being.

Secondary outcomes

• Family Resilience [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' family resilience will be measured by the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire Short Version (WFRQ-9). Participants will report their perceived family resilience on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = rarely/never; 5 = almost always), with higher scores indicating higher levels of family resilience.
• Family harmony [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants will complete the 8-item Family Harmony Scale. Participants will report their perceived level of family harmony on this 8-item, 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of family harmony.
• Parent-Child Conflicts [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants' recent conflicts with their children or parents will be measured by two single-item scales. Participants will report their frequency of conflicts on one scale and the intensity on another. Each scale ranges from one (no conflicts) to five (four or more times of conflicts or very severe conflicts).
• Parenting Self-Efficacy [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Parents will report their parenting self-efficacy on the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale. Participants will indicate their perceived self-efficacy in parenting activities on a 17-item, 6-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 6 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-efficacy in parenting.
• Parental Stress [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Parents will complete the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) to measure their subjective feelings of stress as a parent. Participants will report their perceived parental stress on a 18-item, 6-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 6 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of parental stress.

Other outcomes

• Sense of Community [Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks]: Participants will report their sense of community on the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS). The measurement includes four subscales: needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, and shared emotional connection. Participants will report their perceived sense of community of self on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate participants' higher sense of community.

Sex: All, ages: 10 Years to any, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria for Parents:

1. have at least one child between the fifth and twelfth grade;
2. can participate in the intervention with their child;
3. are Hong Kong residents or have a family member who is a Hong Kong resident;
4. live in Shenzhen.

Inclusion Criteria for Children:

1. are between the fifth and twelfth grade;
2. are Hong Kong residents or have a family member who is a Hong Kong resident;
3. live in Shenzhen.

Exclusion Criteria:

(a) those who have current diagnoses of severe physical or mental illnesses;

• Nancy X Yu, Doctoral, Principal investigator, City University of Hong Kong