1. Children and Happy Growing Up Lok Sang HO Centre for Public Policy Studies Lingnan University 2013 1

2. Data Collection. Schools were first contacted in August 2013. Questionnaires were sent to and were collected from the schools in the period of September and October 2013. Completed questionnaires. A total of 8 primary schools, and 12 secondary schools(international schools are not included in this survey) participated in the Survey. A total of 1,119 student questionnaires (primary 377; secondary 742) and 1,060 parent questionnaires (primary 361; secondary 699) were collected. The number of schools by district: 2 Secondary12 Primary8 Total20 九龍城區 1 元朗區 3 屯門區 2 西貢區 3 沙田區 2 東區 2 深水埗區 4 葵青區 3 Total20 香港 2 九龍 5 新界 13 Total20

3. 3 Students Parents N% N% Primary schools School 1 605.4 535.0 School 2 565.0 545.1 School 3 312.8 302.8 School 4 494.4 464.3 School 5 575.1 545.1 School 6 524.6 514.8 School 7 464.1 464.3 School 8 262.3 272.5 Secondary schools School 1 635.6 635.9 School 2 554.9 535.0 School 3 716.3 666.2 School 4 696.2 686.4 School 5 665.9 666.2 School 6 514.6 494.6 School 7 706.3 635.9 School 8 665.9 656.1 School 9 655.8 646.0 School 10 615.5 615.8 School 11 635.6 615.8 School 12 423.8 201.9 Total 1,119100.0 1,060100.0

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5. 7.23 in 2013 higher than 6.91 in 2012 5

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7. Big drop in happiness in P6 could be due to small sample bias but may also relate to uncertainty; S1 students are remarkably happy 7

8. PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSIVE SYNDROMES AMONG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 浸信會愛群社會服務處在 2011 年 12 月至 2012 年 4 月間，向 10 間學校共 2600 名 12 至 18 歲中一至中五學生發出問卷，以 國際認可方式評估學生是否有抑鬱症狀，另外又以世衛方 式，評估受訪者的精神困擾程度。 結果顯示，成功受訪的 2332 名學生當中， 44 ％人出現不 同程度抑鬱症狀，由輕度、中度至嚴重不等，中度及嚴重 佔 16 ％；中四及中五群組方面，中度及嚴重 抑鬱的比例較 高，達 19 ％，較中一至中三群組的 13.7 ％高。另一項精神困 擾程度調查，則有 2554 人成功受訪， 24.1 ％受訪者有輕度 精神困擾，即有患 上情緒病或精神病的風險， 31.4 ％有中 度及嚴重精神困擾，需即時專業評估及治療。 8

9. Parents’ Other Challenge: Adolescence of Children: last year 9

10. 10 Parent Happiness Peaks when Child is 12 or 13

11. Happiness increases with income consistently this year 11

12. Mental Capital: The Key to Successful Living Love is measured using responses to a set of questions about the respondent’s propensity to care for others and feelings about others having a genuine concern for the respondent’s well-being. Love helps generate a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Notice that in this exercise Love is specifically defined not to include perception of being loved by others. While this is pertinent to Love, and is in part related to a person’s sensitivity or gratitude, it is mainly dependent on the behaviours of others. We want to assess strictly a child’s attitude, and concentrate on how this attitude affects happiness. Insight is measured using responses to a set of questions about the respondent’s sense of proportion and priorities, ability to distinguish between means and ends, interpretation of what constitutes success in life, ability to reflect over one’s decisions and to learn, etc. Insight thus helps generate a sense of self-efficacy, autonomy, and a sense of achievement that is not dependent on others. 12

13. Fortitude is measured using responses to questions regarding the respondent’s ability to face adversity. Fortitude helps generate a sense of achievement and inner strength. Engagement is measured using responses to questions regarding the respondent’s putting thoughts into action. An engaged person is a person who actively engages in tasks that serve his identified purposes. Engagement generates a sense of self-actualization. 13

14. Mental Capital Questions LIFE: Love (2012: did not include 9j) 14

15. Love Score Falls with Progression through School 15

16. LIFE: Insight: Table 3.2: Questions for Children’s Insight Score 9a. You usually are not resentful of others’ criticisms. 9d. You allocate your time well 9g. You often engage in reflections, trying to learn from mistakes 9i. We don’t need to be better than others, but need to try our best 9k. You don’t look forward to a luxurious living

17. Insight Score 17

18. Table 3.3: Questions for Children’s Fortitude Score(same in both years) 9b. You won’t give up easily once you have decided to do something 9c. You have the courage to face difficulties 18

19. 19 Fortitude Score

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21. 21 Engagement Score (note: 2013 and 2012 results not directly comparable)

22. Table 3.5: Baseline OLS Regression against LIFE Scores 22

23. Table 3.6: Happiness Falls with Age in the Sampling Range(OLS) 23

24. 24 Table 3.7: Parent Age (Age Gap) not significant In Impacting Children’s Happiness

25. 25 Insight is Significantly Correlated with Fortitude For both Parents and Children

26. 26 Simple Regressions on One Variable Highlights Importance of Parents’ Mental Capital on Child Development

27. 27 LIFE definitions for Parents Love 4m. You have a good relationship with your spouse 9j. You enjoy helping others Insight 9a. You usually are not resentful of others’ criticisms. 9d. You allocate your time well 9g. You often engage in reflections, trying to learn from mistakes 9i. We don’t need to be better than others, but need to try our best 9k. You don’t look forward to a luxurious living Fortitude 9b. You won’t give up easily once you have decided to do something 9c. You have the courage to face difficulties Engagement 9f. You will try your best to do what you have chosen to 9h. You often try to find something you are interested in to do

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29. 29 Table 3.10: Parents’ Happiness on Parents’ LIFE Scores (OLS)

30. 30 Table 3.11: Parents’ Happiness on Parents’ LIFE Scores and Other Factors (OLS)

31. 31 Table 3.12: Parents Happiness on Parents LIFE Scores with Demographics and Income(OLS): Love/Retired & Housewives Mostly Happy

32. 32 Table 3.13a: Testing the Effects of Religious Activities on Children

33. Previous year(2012)1: “Devoutness” to Religion: religiosity shows statistical significant effect, if interpreted as devoutness

34. Effects of Religiosity Appear to Mainly through LIFE Religious Activities Not Helpful at All 34

35. 35 Table 3.13c: Testing Religiosity without LIFE Variables but with Demographic Variables

36. 36 Table 3.13d: Testing Religiosity with LIFE Variables as well as Demographic Variables

37. Family Life “Famlife” definition Famlife is a variable on a scale of -3 to +3, and measures the quality of family life. It is the average of positive qualities minus the average of negative qualities. Since the maximum of the mean of positive scores is 4, and the minimum of the mean of negative scores is 1, the maximum for Famlife is +3. Conversely the minimum of Famlife is -3. Average (11b+11d) minus Average(11e+11f+11g+11j+11i+11j) 37

38. Happy Family “Hapfam” definition 38 Hapfam 3n. Your mom has a good relationship with your dad 3o. You have a warm, loving family Hapfam is the average of this two questions and the questions are 1-5 scale.

39. 39 Table 4.1: Overview of Family Life: Quality and Behaviour Freq.%RangeRemarks Hapfam“Happy”75769%4 – 5 Around 70% of children sampled claim they have a happy family. “Neutral”25623%>2 – <4 23% of the children fall into the basket of “neutral”. “Unhappy”777%1 – 2 7% of children sampled have unhappy families Famlife (behaviour) “Bad”353%-3 – -1 About 3 % of the children live in families characterized by some degree of violence. “Neutral”41338%>-1 – <1 38% of children sampled live in “neutral” families. “Good”62758%+1 – +3 58% of children sampled live in families characterized by loving behaviour. * Hapfam: Parents are happily married & child thinks he/she has a warm and loving family (perception)

40. 40 Table 4.2a: Happy Family Score (Hapfam) by Age of Child Percentage(%) Age891011121314151617 “Unhappy” (1 – 2) 20%9%6%10%6%7%6%12%0% “Neutral” (3)10%24%25%16%20%22%35%38%23%0% “Happy” (4-5) 70%67%68%74% 70%60%50%77%100% Table 4.2b: Good Family Life Score (Famlife) by Age of Child Percentage(%) Age891011121314151617 “Bad” (-3 to -1) 0%1%2%5%2%4%6% 8%0% “Neutral” (>-1 to <1) 60%47%35%24%35%38%44%59%62%67% “Good” (+1 to +3) 40%52%63%71%63%57%50%35%31%33%

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51. Table 4.11a: Explaining Family Disharmony (OLS): Disciplining Child Contributes to Family Disharmony; pressures from school work not so important but pressures from extra-curricular activity play a role Check equation Pindexschw too insignificant 51

52. Table 4.11b: Explaining Family Disharmony (OLS): Effects of Disciplining Child Strong, & School Work Pressures Not so important but that of Extra-curricular Activity Pressures Significant (Parent Perception of Financial Well-Being) Disciplining causes family disharmony 52

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54. Having good classmates is the most important to Happy Schooling 54

55. 55 Note a significant % dislike the school curriculum

56. 56 Table 5.8a: Happiness of Children Regressed against LIFE Scores, Hapschool,Hapfam, and School Grades Hapschool more important and more significant when grades are included

57. 57 Table 5.8b: Children’s Happiness Regressed against Hapschool and Hapfam Alone(Hapfam and Hapschool both rescaled to 0 to 10) Hapfam more significant, but Hapschool bigger impact

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59. 59 Parents’ Happiness appears to affect children’s happiness significantly; so is the child’s perception of the family’s financial well being.

60. Parents’ Happiness becomes more important to children’s happiness when parents’ perception of financial well being is used instead of the child’s own perception.

61. 61 Children’s happiness carries a big and significant effect on parents’ happiness. Perceived financial well being is also highly important.

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64. 10% 11 hours or less inclusive of sleep and meals 26% 12 hours or less and meals 64

65. 7.23 average happiness for the grades in 2013: Too little disposable time a cause of misery 65

66. Amazingly long hours on homework for P5 and P6 students 66

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68. Those who spend more than 210 minutes on homework appear to be struggling 68

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