Predictors, Mediators and Moderators of Police Work-Related Stress: A Scoping Review.

Owing to the complication in organisation, the dangerous job nature and the rise of demonstrations and protests across the world in the past decade, police work-related stress has become a topic of global concern. This review aimed to provide an understanding of predictors, mediators and moderators of police work-related stress from a multi-level perspective. Using a scoping review approach underpinned by the six-stage methodological framework, studies were found from six electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Scopus, PsycINFO and PsychiatryOnline) and grey literature sources. Thirty studies were yielded across 35,446 participants from 12 locations. This review contributes to a systematic understanding of the factors affecting police work-related stress by identifying six predictors, four mediators and three moderators. It then discusses limitations and future research.

Explaining the Help-Seeking Intentions of Adolescents Subject to Sexual Exploitation in Tanzania: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

The sexual exploitation (SE) of children and adolescents is a universal concern. Numerous empirical studies have examined the prevalence and consequences of this phenomenon worldwide, but there is little information on the factors that determine the help-seeking intentions of adolescents subject to SE in Tanzania. We drew on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to address this knowledge gap. The study had two main objectives. First, we examined four TPB variables (attitudes toward seeking help, perceived social support, perceived social stigma, and generalized self-efficacy) as determinants of the Tanzanian adolescents' help-seeking intentions. Second, we explored the moderating effects of social stigma on the relationship between the examined TPB factors and the adolescents' help-seeking intentions. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from a stratified random sample of 1,116 secondary school adolescents aged 13-17 (M = 15.66; SD = 1.09). The participants were recruited from two regions in the east and northwest of Tanzania and data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. The results indicate that the TPB variables of attitude toward seeking help, perceived social support, and generalized self-efficacy were positively associated with the help-seeking intentions of adolescents subject to SE, but not social stigma. Through moderation analyses, we found that social stigma significantly weakened the explanatory power of the attitude toward seeking help. The findings of this study in the context of Tanzania were discussed and implications for policy, practice, and future research were suggested.

Leisure and Problem Gaming Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents During School Closures Caused by COVID-19 in Hong Kong: Quantitative Cross-sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated students' loneliness, addictive gaming behaviors, and poor mental health. These mental health issues confronting young people are of public concern. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the associations between loneliness and gaming addiction behaviors among young people in Hong Kong and to investigate how familial factors, psychological distress, and gender differences moderate these relationships. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2020 when schools reopened after 6 months of school closures. Participants included 2863 children and adolescents in primary (Grades 4 to 6) and secondary (Grades 7 and 8) schools (female participants: 1502/2863, 52.5%). Chi-square tests, one-way analyses of variance, and independent-samples t tests were performed to compare the differences of distribution in gaming addiction behaviors across gender, age, and other sociodemographic characteristics. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors that relate to excessive or pathological gaming behaviors separately, in comparison with leisure gaming. RESULTS: A total of 83.0% (2377/2863) of the participants played video games during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of excessive and pathological game addiction behaviors was 20.9% (597/2863) and 5.3% (153/2863), respectively. More male students had gaming addiction symptoms than female students. The multinomial logistic regressions showed that feeling lonely was associated with more problematic gaming behaviors, and the association was stronger for older female students. Low socioeconomic status, less parental support and less supervision, and poor mental health were risk factors for gaming addiction behaviors, especially among primary school students. CONCLUSIONS: Loneliness was associated with gaming addiction behaviors; the findings from this study suggested that this association was similar across gender and age groups among young people. Familial support and supervision during school closures can protect young people from developing problematic gaming behaviors. Results of this study have implications for prevention and early intervention on behalf of policy makers and game developers.

Social Work Contribution to Desistance Among At-Risk Youth.

Desistance as a process to forgo delinquent habits is an important target for intervention into youth at risk of delinquency. The intervention through social work services, nevertheless, has not clearly demonstrated its effectiveness. For such a demonstration, the present study examines the contribution of social work services with reference to the voluntaristic theory of action. The theory suggests that promoting the youth's voluntarism underlying desistance, encompassing appreciation, facilitation, observation, and identification concerning desistance is essential. The suggestion leads to the hypothesis that social work services promote the youth's desistance through the promotion of voluntarism for desistance. This hypothesis gets support from this study of 586 at-risk youths in Hong Kong, with data collected from both the youths and their responsible social workers. The support implies the value of social work services for sustaining the youth's desistance.

Engaging adolescent girls in transactional sex through compensated dating.

Transactional sex through so-called compensated dating in adolescent girls is a problem in need of public concern. Compensated dating typically involves the use of information communication technology to advertise, search, bargain, and eventually arrange for transactional sex. The technology enables the sexual partners to maintain privacy and secrecy in transactional sex. Such secrecy necessitates the girls' disclosure about their life experiences in order to address the concern. The disclosure is the focus of the present qualitative study of 27 girls practicing the dating in Hong Kong, China. Based on the disclosure, the study presents a grounded theory that epitomizes engagement in compensated dating by referential choice. Such a referential choice theory unravels that choice with reference to the family push and social norms sustains the engagement. Meanwhile, the choice rests on expectancy and reinforcement from experiential learning about compensated dating. The theory thus implies ways to undercut the engagement through diverting the referential choice of the dating.