Conference Programme

Symposium

Youth-led research in youth mental health in Hong Kong (2):

Novel indicators of mental health risks

Session Chair: Dr SUEN Yi Nam (The University of Hong Kong)

 

Presentations

The Potential Of Trypophobia as a Low Stigma Tool

to Assess Risk Of Mental Health Problems and Predict Functioning Outcomes

Mr Eric TANG (The University of Hong Kong)

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Youth Impulsivity - Associations with Age, Cognitive Performance, and Mental Health

Mr Alvah LAI (The University of Hong Kong)

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ADHD, ASD and the Role of Rumination and Impulsivity

Ms Alison CHAU (The University of Hong Kong)

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Mechanism Of Ideal/Actual Self Discrepancies

in Predicting Mental Health Problems

Ms Crystal LING  (The University of Hong Kong)

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Random Number Generation Tapping:

How Random Youth is and Its Relationship with Mental Health Risks

Mr Charlie IP (The University of Hong Kong)

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Synopsis

Youth marks a period of heightened vulnerability for the onset of mental disorders but is also characterised by suboptimal help-seeking due to fear of stigma. Traditional methods of assessing mental health and identifying those at risk may therefore require adaptations to this population. The identification of novel and more “engaging” proxies of mental health, as well as potentially modifiable mechnisms, would be important to facilitate early screening and intervention work for at-risk youths in the community.

 

Using data from an ongoing large-scale epidemiological youth study and from the LevelMind@JC project in Hong Kong, various constructs were examined and discussed in this symposium concerning their associations with different aspects of mental health (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms) and functioning impairments. The team will first present findings on the role of trypophobia – which describes the intense fear of clusters of holes – in mental health, as a construct that has been recently reported in the literature but never explored in population-representative youth samples. Impulsivity will be discussed from a neurobiological perspective, with developmental age being a largely relevant factor. The comorbidity between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their associations with symptom outcomes, as well as the mediating roles of impulsivity and rumination will also be further discussed for the first time. The discussion will be followed by a sharing of the phenomenon of ideal-actual self discrepancy and how it may contribute to depressive and anxiety symptoms via resilience. Lastly, the team will share the use of a novel game that assesses the degree to which one can generate “random numbers” and how it may possibly offer insights into one’s mental health state. It is hoped this symposium could offer new perspectives to the design of less stigmatising and engaging approaches to improve youth mental health across populations.