Process research: compare and contrast the recovery-orientated strengths model of case management and usual community mental health care.

Background: The strengths model of case management (SMCM), which was developed by Rapp and Goscha through collaborative efforts at the University of Kansas, assists individuals with mental illness in their recovery by mobilizing individual and environmental resources. Increasing evidence has shown that the utilization of the SMCM improves outcomes, including increased employment/educational attainment, reduced hospitalization rates, higher self-efficacy, and hope. However, little is known about the processes through which the SMCM improves outcomes for mental health service users.

Nine-Month Longitudinal Impact of Peer Support Workers' Recovery Attributes on Service Users' Recovery in Hong Kong.

Objective: In this study, the authors investigated the longitudinal effect of the recovery attributes of peer support workers (PSWs) on users of mental health services in Hong Kong over a 9-month period.

Methods: Recovery attributes were measured among PSWs (N=26) employed by four local nongovernmental organizations before their commencement of service. The recovery-related outcomes of regular service users (N=181) were measured every 3 months for 9 months.

A one-year longitudinal qualitative study of peer support services in a non-Western context: The perspectives of peer support workers, service users, and co-workers.

This study explored the changing views of key stakeholders (peer support workers, their co-workers, and service users) about peer support services in a non-Western community, using a longitudinal qualitative approach. Five trainee peer support workers (PSWs), 15 service users, and 14 co-workers were interviewed over a 12-month period, under the auspices of the Peer Support Workers Project (also known as the Mindset project) in Hong Kong. A total of 77 interviews were transcribed and thematic analyses were conducted across the participant groups at three different time points (training, work placements, and employment).

Ruminative and catastrophizing cognitive styles mediate the association between daily hassles and high anxiety in Hong Kong adolescents.

This study assessed rumination, catastrophizing and daily hassles as predictors of anxiety when controlling for depressive symptoms in a community sample of adolescents reporting high anxiety. Adolescents aged 12-18 (N = 2,802, mean age of 14.9) completed the Screen For Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders.

Quality of life of caregivers with relatives suffering from mental illness in Hong Kong: roles of caregiver characteristics, caregiving burdens, and satisfaction with psychiatric services.

Background: The study attempted to explore the quality of life (QoL) of Chinese caregivers with mentally ill relatives. It also aimed to examine the differential roles of caregiving burdens, caregiver characteristics, and satisfaction with psychiatric services in caregivers' QoL.

Methods: 276 caregivers with relatives attending community psychiatric facilities in Hong Kong were invited to fill out a questionnaire.