Since the new school year, the mental health of young people in Hong Kong has attracted social attention.
Although mental health is affected by different and complex factors, so far, there has been little research or discussion about the stress caused by political life events (Political Life Events) and its impact on mental health.
Political life events refer to a source of stress generated in a special historical and political environment, which is different from general life events such as life stress caused by higher education and examinations.
With the rapid changes in the political environment in Hong Kong, has the mental health of young people been affected?
The research team conducted questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews from September 2020 to June 2021, trying to explore the mental health of adolescents from the three levels of political life events, personal, interpersonal, and community.
The questionnaire survey initially adopted a stratified random sampling method, inviting secondary schools from all districts to participate in the research. However, due to the unsatisfactory response to the new crown epidemic and school suspension orders, only one secondary school agreed to participate.
Therefore, the research team switched to using stratified conceptual sampling to invite 1 secondary school in each of the five original legislative council constituencies in Hong Kong to participate in the study. With random sampling of schools, a total of 6 secondary schools participated in the study.
The interviewees were students from Form 4 to Form 6, and the final number of people participating in the questionnaire survey was 1,330.
Young people pay more attention to social politics and
less discussion and actions
The results of the research show that the interviewed students are generally concerned about the political development of Hong Kong.
58.7% of the respondents said that they are "slightly more" (25.4%), "a lot" (21.7%) and "very much" (11.6%) concerned about political activities or events in Hong Kong.
In addition, as many as 59.7% of the students surveyed said that they were "slightly more" (23.3%), "a lot" (22%) or "very much" (14.4%) concerned about news of Hong Kong political events.
Although the interviewees are concerned about politics as a whole, the results show that many young people have not actually participated in the action.
55.1% of the respondents said that they had “very little” (37.2%), “quite little” (9.1%) or “slightly” (8.8%) ever participated in political activities or events in Hong Kong.
At the same time, 40% of the respondents said that they "very little" (14.8%), "quite little" (12.4%) or "slightly less" (12.8%) through face-to-face conversations or social media to actively discuss political events Political conflict.
It can be seen from the data that, on the one hand, we should affirm that young people are concerned about politics; on the other hand, we should understand what factors prevent young people from participating or discussing accordingly.
Political events and positions cause pressure
In addition, the research results show that some students interviewed are under certain degree of pressure due to political stance, especially when it comes to getting along with their families.
Although 54% of the students said that they were very little (32.1%), very little (11.1%), or slightly (10.8%) stressed because of their different political stances from their family members or relatives, 27.6% of the students said slightly more (12.6%), quite a lot (8%) or very much (7%) feel stressed.
On the contrary, the interviewed students are relatively less under pressure due to political stance in getting along with their classmates or friends. Only 11.9% of the students said it was slightly more (6.6%), quite a lot (2.7%), or very much (2.6%) Feeling pressured because I have different political positions with my friends or classmates.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the pressures of Hong Kong youths in political life events, in addition to quantitative research, the research team also invited 36 youths to conduct qualitative interviews.
By using the focus group method, the team tried to understand the youth's experiences and responses to political life events, and found that the interview content reflected and supplemented the results of quantitative research to a certain extent.
For example, a teenager interviewed said that if they have made comments about political opinions on social platforms, they may be recounted and abused by others later. He believes that "in fact, there must be restrictions on talking about political opinions, and I think it is impossible to avoid them." It explains why the data show that young people seldom use face-to-face conversations or social media to actively discuss political events with others.
In addition, some interviewees mentioned that in the current social environment, "you have become more cautious about what you have said", "because you don’t know when you will make a mistake, because you don’t know when you will be punished, and all of them are unknown. (I don’t know.) When you talk about it, it’s safe."
It can be seen from the content of the above-mentioned young people’s interviews that they feel that the space for speech in the current society is narrowed due to political reasons, and they feel pressured.
However, some interviewees said, "Because Hong Kong is a city where you can freely express your opinions... I think that different opinions can exist at the same time. Maybe we should cherish this shared freedom. Hello," it can be seen that different young people have different understandings of whether they can take the initiative to discuss political events with others.
Young is now half the respondents anxiety and depression
Government need to face to understand response
In the analysis of the mental health of adolescents, the results of the study show that the mental distress of the interviewed students is worrying. As many as 52% and 41.9% of the interviewees have symptoms of anxiety and depression.
However, it is worth noting that the results did not rule out the possible impact on the mental health of students due to the new crown epidemic.
In addition, according to statistical analysis, the pressure of young people due to political conflict will increase the degree of mental distress, that is, the greater the pressure due to political conflict, the higher the severity of mental distress.
However, the frequency of youth participation in political life events is not related to their mental distress.
Based on the above research results, we suggest that the Hong Kong government has a deeper understanding of the pressure and mental distress caused by political conflicts among young people, so as to formulate appropriate social policies to help them.
In the focus group interview, one participant mentioned: "The process of confiding with others, at least not depressing in your heart", because "at least you know that someone is caring about this issue together with you. I will feel that the mood will change." It's not heavy."
In view of this, we recommend that the relevant authorities strengthen the counselling support services provided by schools and community youth service centers, and at the same time strengthen the ability of professionals to identify mental distress and illness early, so as to help young people get appropriate help.
This article is part of the results of the research project of the Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, written by the research team.
Team members include Tao Zhaoming (Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Fang Chengbang (Research Assistant and PhD student in the Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Chen Minyu (Master of Arts in Christian Studies, Chung Chi Theological Seminary, The Chinese University of Hong Kong).
