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By discussing various aspects of family functioning, including the intricate nature of family functioning, family dynamics’ impact on adolescent growth and lifelong development, and the COVID-19’s effects on family relationships, it reveals the importance and necessity of assessment instruments in the field of family counselling. And concerning the gap between family research and clinical practice as well as the absence of a singular tool capable of evaluating various family functions comprehensively in the Macao context, the study introduced the Basic Family Relations Inventory (BFRI; or ‘Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Relaciones Familiares Básicas’, CERFB), a self-reported questionnaire based on Linares’ Basic Family Relations Theory. This valuable tool consists of 25 items, assessing simultaneously the quality of family relationships in two basic dimensions—marital and parental functioning. This study aimed to develop the Chinese version of the BFRI and investigate its psychometric properties in the context of Macao. By employing a quantitative research approach, it evaluated the normal distribution, exploratory factor analysis and reliability of the BFRI in a non-clinical snowball and convenience sample of 165 participants with at least one biological child from 12 to 18 years old. In the exploratory factor analysis, the initial factor extraction resulted in four components, reflecting both marital and parental items. This suggested potential overlap and interconnectedness between the marital and parental subsystems. Subsequent analysis identified a three-factor solution, separating marital, negative parental, and positive parental components. This aligned with the factor structure of the original Spanish version of the BFRI. A two-factor solution was also explored, replicating findings from the previous Italian and Portuguese validation of the BFRI despite some inconsistencies in item alignment. The EFA results revealed that the three-factor structure of the Chinese version of the BFRI was the best fitting model for the Macao population. Reliability analysis, assessed through Cronbach’s alpha, indicated satisfactory internal consistency of the scales. The results of the analyses demonstrate promising psychometric properties, supporting the tool’s effectiveness in assessing marital and parental relationships in a Macao population. The study contributed to the development of the valuable family assessment instrument. It suggested that the Chinese version of the BFRI could serve as a useful instrument to concurrently assess the quality of marital and parental relationships and systematically collect the data of family functioning in both dimensions. It’s also believed that this instrument could benefit the evaluation of family dynamics and comprehension of family relations not only in family research studies, but also in counselling intervention and clinical therapy, preventing risks to the health of children as well as promoting healthy family contexts in Macao

The present study aimed to analyse the differences in the internalising problems (anxiety, depression, somatic complaints), assessed by different informants (teachers and students), according to the level of academic achievement and school adaptation level in secondary students. Furthermore, we examine the gender difference in the level of internalising symptoms. Finally, we analyzed the differences between teacher-rated and adolescents' self-reported internalising symptoms. The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) was used for collecting informants’ data. The sample consisted of 882 secondary students (349 males and 473 females), while 50 came from public schools and 772 from private schools. No significant differences are found in internalising problems according to the level of academic achievement from both teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Generally, students who are well-adapted to the school context have the least symptoms of internalising problems compared to average and less-adapted groups from the teachers' perspective. In addition, from students’ perspectives, adolescent females present more internalising problems than males. Finally, teachers rated fewer internalising problems when compared to the students. In conclusion, the low level of awareness of teachers towards the internalising problems of students arouse attention. It is suggested that teachers should attend professional development programs in order to address to students’ internalising problems

School-age children and adolescents face several psychological conditions frequently associated with negative consequences on behavioral and mental problems. Their level of mental resilience may affect their responses to academic or interpersonal issues and coping with challenges, which in turn affects their mental health. This study aims to characterize the current status of the psychopathology and resilience of secondary students and to analyze the relationship between psychopathology and resilience in a sample of 80 girls aged 12–18 was selected by cluster sampling from one private secondary school with six grades in Macao. In this study, we used the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) to assess behavioral and emotional problems and the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents to assess resilience. A total of 78 valid questionnaires were obtained for CBCL, 78 for TRF, 80 for YSR, and 77 for Resilience Scale and data were analyzed by using SPSS. The results reveal that clinical prevalence of Total Problems (YSR, 27.5% > CBCL, 19.2% > TRF, 15.4%) and Internalizing Problems (YSR, 22.5% > CBCL, 17.9% > TRF, 11.5%) from the perspective of adolescents was higher than that from the perspectives of parents and teachers. Senior students exhibited higher frequency on the borderline clinical range than Junior students. (χ2(2, N=80) =14.56, p<.001). The average score of resilience is 3.24±0.51, which is above the middle level. Regarding the YSR scale and Resilience scale, we found that the score of Affect Control is significantly negatively correlated with the score of Internalizing Problems (r = -.354, p<.01). Family Support is also significantly negatively correlated with the score of Internalizing Problems (r = -.302, p<.01). Good affect control and family support can reduce various emotional and behavioral problems. The results of the study found the resilience level can negatively affect internalizing problem behaviors and externalizing problem behaviors. The results are promising and can give clues for preventing and promoting measures regarding mental health issues to both family and school education contexts, as creating a sustainable development strategy of improving adolescents’ mental resilience quality

This study aims to investigate gender-differentiated parenting and the factors that affect parent-adolescent relationships in Macao families. The study will address the following research questions: A) Does gender-differentiated parenting exist in Macao families? B) How does the academic level of parents relate to conflict resolution and acceptance levels? C) How does the length of time parents have lived together relate to conflict resolution and acceptance levels? D) How does the sibling position of adolescents relate to conflict resolution and acceptance levels? The study employed a quantitative research approach with a purposive and convenient sample of parents with children aged between 12 to 18 years old in Macao. The data were collected using the Parent-Child Interaction Questionnaire—Revised-Parent version (PACHIQ-R-P) through a questionnaire survey from May to August 2022. Out of the 172 completed questionnaires, seven were invalid, resulting in 165 valid questionnaires. The findings showed that gender differentiation in parenting was confirmed, with significant results showing that fathers had lower acceptance and conflict resolution levels when their child was a boy. Mothers showed similar acceptance and conflict resolution levels regardless of their child's gender. Furthermore, the study found that parents' acceptance of their children was influenced by their academic level, length of time living together, and the child's sibling position. This study is the first of its kind in Macao and could provide valuable insights for family and adolescent services in the region

The purpose of the study was to explore the smoking behaviour of the smokers living in Macao. I was part of the 1st group of doctors to have chosen to initiate smoking cessation in Macau. In addition to my diverse academic background of study in laws- a dissertation about the effect of tobacco control program in Macao (submitted in 2011), a master in Public Administration, and five years of working experiences as an Inspector Assistant of tobacco, I had the conviction that I have to write to share my experience and knowledge about smoking cessation to contribute to the field of counselling and psychotherapy as there is little research data concerning smoking prevalence and demographics in Macao. This study consists of two parts – PART I presents the quantitative data collected by a questionnaire-survey over 1378 smokers and PART II qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 10 adult smokers to explore their experiences of smoking and smoking cessation in Macao. Quantitative data analysis was conducted with the SPSS, while qualitative analysis with coding and theme identification by following the grounded theory procedures. The study found that about 85% smoker surveyed consumed more than half a pack of cigarette per day and about 31% reported various symptoms like irritability, fatigue, loss of appetite and difficulties in concentration. The qualitative study has identified major positive factors related to initiation and maintenance of smoking cessation, namely health concerns, financial concerns and family support. Major negative factors related to relapse of smoking are peer influences, smoking of family members, and impacts of stressful life events. Based on findings of the study, it is argued that preventive anti-smoking education should be implemented among young people. Promotion of health education and preventive anti-smoking strategist and policy in Macao are discussed. The data collected indicate the fact that individuals who have pathologies of the cardiovascular system as a motivating factor for contemplating or taking actions for smoking cessation. Moreover, financial problems, gender (male predominantly), married with family support, higher educational level, without psychological diseases, better economic status, lower nicotine dependent are predictors to success in quit smoking. It also raises the possible need to deepen some evaluation parameters hither to be only superficially addressed. Therefore, and by limitations inherent to the study, this hypothesis needs further investigation. I argue that non-pharmacological treatment methods alone have proven to be effective in the smoking cessation process. However, it is argued that this combined with pharmacological therapy, in particular in specialized consultations, would be more effective and capable in increasing success rates in smoking cessation

"In 2021/2022 academic year, there are 2,244 SEN students in Macau and its growth rate is 36% in ten years. However, at the present, there are 38 schools providing the related education to them. Admittedly, this is an unbalanced supply and demand. In fact, the teachers who work at inclusive education schools are bearing all responsibility to teach SEN students and their mental health is worth to attention. Moreover, there are 1,224 SEN students in primary (2021/2022 academic year), it accounting for 55% of all. That is, the numbers of their teachers are the most and they are representative. Therefore, exploring primary teachers’ burnout at inclusive education schools becomes the topic of this study, even more important, it is including to compare normal and resource teachers. This topic is rarer currently in Macau. On the one hand, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and (reduced) personal accomplishment are dimensions of burnout (Maslach et al., 1996). These become the dependent variables of this study. According Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the factors of self-efficacy in inclusive education (Sharma et al., 2012), the following hypotheses are provided to guide this study: (1) normal teachers’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment are higher than those in resource teachers; (2) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education, (3) teachers’ self-efficacy to use inclusive instruction (SEII), (4) teachers’ self-efficacy in collaboration (SEC) and (5) teachers’ self-efficacy in v managing behavior (SEMB) both are negatively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment; (6) teachers’ stress of Covid19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. On the other hand, quantitative methodology, and snowball sampling are used in this research. At last, 132 responds are collected, including 100 normal teachers and 32 resource teachers. They are from 48 inclusive education schools in Macau. All data were analyzed by SPSS 25.0. The results of this study are followed: (1) teachers’ emotional exhaustion level is middle, their depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment levels both are low; (2) resource teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are higher than normal teachers; (3) teachers’ attitudes into inclusive education negatively related to depersonalization but positively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (4) in the factors of self-efficacy, only SEII is negatively related to reduced personal accomplishment; (5) teachers’ stress of Covid-19 is positively related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment."

This study examined the relationships between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being of medical doctors and nurses in Macao. It applied a quantitative methodology through a cross-sectional applying self-response questionnaires to 149 healthcare workers. Consistent with the group-engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003), findings indicate that organisational justice and job satisfaction improve subjective well-being. Yet, inconsistent with the model and our hypotheses, organizational justice did not affect work satisfaction. Finally, nurses experienced less positive justice perceptions than doctors. The study provides insights into the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare professionals, which might help enhance working conditions. Healthcare organizations should prioritize promoting job satisfaction and justice perceptions to increase healthcare personnel's subjective well-being. The cross-sectional design limits causal inferences about variable relationships, and the self-reported data may have social desirability or response biases. Still, the originality and value of this paper lie in its contribution to the literature on the well-being of healthcare workers, particularly in the unique context of Macao. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Macao to examine the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and subjective well-being among healthcare workers

The aim of this research is to investigate how power distance orientation effects the relationship between perceptions of organisational politics and perceptions of organisational justice. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 172 full time workers in Macau, where respondents self-responded to questionnaires that were translated back-to-back into Chinese in order to accommodate the populations native language. This study found that power distance was contrary to our initial hypothesis of high-power distance equals to high politics and low justice. It was found that high power distance in facts equates to lower political perceptions and higher justice perceptions. This study contributes to understanding power distance in Macau as it is not noted in the Hofstede cultural dimensions. We also learned that having a longer distance between a position of power can contribute to less political activity and more sense of justice for the employees

There are gaps in the research on gender differences and parental participation and the interaction between gender and parental participation in non-Western cultural contexts, particularly the Macao context. The current study aims to fill these gaps by examining gender and parental participation (i.e., father only, mother only, or both) differences and interactions in externalizing behaviour (oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder) during late childhood and adolescence (i.e., from age 10 to 18) in Macao. The methodological approach for the current study was a cross-sectional design with a quantitative methodology based on self-rated questionnaires. In certain items, we did discover gender differences. More boys than girls appeared to concur that they occasionally misbehave at school or start fires. And it appeared that girls were more likely than boys to concur that they occasionally exhibit unexpected mood or emotion changes and strong tempers. The children in the groups where only the mother or father participated tended to agree more than they prefer to hang out with older kids than kids their own age. This is in contrast to the group with more parental participation, which is represented by both parents submitting the questionnaire. Although none of the hypotheses proposed were supported, our outcomes implied culture and subculture may play important roles on youths’ externalizing behaviour

"This study explored the relationships of work-life balance and turnover intentions of full-time employees in Macao, and role of gender, parenting, and elderly care. Namely: (1) What is the relationship between work-life balance perceptions and turnover intentions? (2) What is the moderating role of gender in the relationship between work-life balance perceptions and turnover intentions? (3) What is the moderating role of parenting (i.e., having children or not) in the relationship between work-life balance perceptions and turnover intentions? And, (4) what is the moderating role of care for elderly family members (i.e., having to provide care or not) in the relationship between work-life balance perceptions and turnover intentions?"

We see security guards around in Macao in our daily lives and they are the ones who are responsible for protecting people’s safety and properties. Most security guards are non-local workers and might have different workplace stress levels. This study’s main aim is to investigate how job satisfaction and supervisory support are related to burnout among security guards in Macao. The research is carried out through a quantitative questionnaire to collect data and deliver it to the local and non-local security guards working in Macao. A total of 132 questionnaires were collected. It is expected that when security guards have higher job satisfaction and more supervisory support, they will experience less burnout. This intention enables the organization to make some changes to help the security guards from burnout due to job dissatisfaction and no supervisory support. The practical implication for reducing stress is introducing training courses such as mindfulness-based stress training programs. Future research will investigate other support like organizational support, peer support, and family and friends support on security guards

The phenomenon of burnout has been recognised as a worldwide occupational health issue after being vastly studied for decades. Trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) and resilience have been identified as personal protective factors (Gutierrez & Mullen, 2016; Listopad et al., 2021), while organisational socialisation is suggested to be an organisational factor in helping people in preventing burnout (Taormina & Law, 2000). With the purpose of 1) investigating the phenomenon in the counselling profession, as well as 2) exploring how trait EI and resilience are related to burnout and whether organisational socialisation might impose moderating effects in between, the present study examined 115 counselling professionals currently employed and working in organisational settings in Macau by snowball sampling, using a quantitative and cross-sectional approach through self-reported online questionnaires. From the data obtained, different burnout patterns were observed according to job titles and work settings, indicating that counselling professionals with different specialties and work in different settings have unique sources of stress, which resulting in differences in their burnout patterns. No between-group differences were observed in age and work experience, while male participants have a higher burnout perception than female participants in the current study. On the other hand, current results suggested trait EI and four components of resilience (determination, endurance, adaptability and recuperability) are negatively correlated to counselling professionals’ burnout perception, providing supportive evidence that trait EI and resilience are protective factors against burnout. Moderation analysis results revealed that organisational socialisation has some moderating effects on the relationship between trait EI, resilience and burnout. However, differences in direction and intensity indicated that the moderating effects of organisational socialisation might be influenced by individual differences. Further studies are needed to better the understanding of the moderating effect of organisational socialisation. Limitations of the current research and implications for counselling professionals and organisations were also discussed in the study

This study explored the effect of communication (i.e., among staff, and between staff and clients) and of cultural diversity on job satisfaction (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and general) and perceived service quality of formal caregivers working in elderly services in Macao. We applied a quantitative methodology, based on a cross-sectional design using a self-response questionnaire to 162 staff in six elderly centres in Macao. Based on an extensive review of the literature, we proposed that: H1) cultural diversity is negatively related to (a) intrinsic job satisfaction, (b) extrinsic job satisfaction, (c) general job satisfaction, and (H5) negatively related to perceived competence and service quality; (H2) communication (a) among staff and (b) between staff and clients is positively related to intrinsic job satisfaction (H3) extrinsic job satisfaction, (H4) general job satisfaction, and (H6) perceived service quality; and finally that (H7) intrinsic, (H8) extrinsic, and (H9) general job satisfaction mediate the relationship between (a) cultural diversity, (b) communication among staff and (c) communication between staff and clients, and perceived service quality. We found that more communication among staff was related to higher intrinsic, extrinsic and general job satisfaction, and perceived competence and service quality. And intrinsic job satisfaction mediated the positive effect of communication among staff on perceived service quality. Opposite to predicted communication between staff and clients was related to lower levels of job satisfaction. And cultural diversity was positively related to satisfaction, as well as perceived competence and service quality. The theoretical and practical implications of findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for future research were discussed

"Cantonese opera (CO) represents an art form that had its golden time in Macao during the mid-twentieth century. CO still has many loyal fans but they mainly are in the older generation. The purpose of this study was to explore if CO is considered a cultural capital heritage in Macao, related to cultural identity and transmitted across generations to support social bonding. Applying a qualitative methodology, a script for exploring participants’ experiences and opinions about CO was designed, and different groups of individuals were recruited for semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The data collected was analysed by a thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts. Findings show that in the past first contacts with CO happened in family and related social context, mainly during participants’ developing age. However, currently CO is no longer passed on to the next generation. Despite that the young generations acknowledging their cultural identities in CO, mainly in terms of Cantonese culture and Cantonese language, older individuals engaged with CO seemed to perceive their cultural identities more in depth in its history, literacy and music. Actually, engagement is an important factor that generates social bonds. The CO leisure practitioners, no matter young or old, experienced the effects of social bonding during the ritual of enquiry in the process of learning and practising CO. To improve CO’s preservation in Macao, the adoption of strategies such as developing new productions, crossover with other media, innovations in promotion targeting the young audiences, and absorbing audiences in the Great Bay area were proposed. Finally, the potential use of CO as a tool in counselling and community work is discussed. "

The purpose of this study is to examine work engagement and mental well-being in Macau, specifically after more than three years of COVID. Examine whether external factors such as emotional support from supervisors, co-workers, and family members have a positive impact on work engagement and mental well-being, and whether the internal factor self-reflection with its three aspects of need for self-reflection, engagement in self-reflection, and insight from self-reflection moderates the relationship between emotional support, work engagement, and mental well-being. The target audience consists of Macau's integrated resort, hospitality, and gaming industry employees. According to the Affective Event Theory (AET), affective events at work generate emotional responses that influence the attitudes and behavior of employees in the workplace. In this study, this theoretical framework was used to clarify the interplay of variables that explain emotional support from supervisors, co-workers, and family members, work engagement, and mental well-being. An online self-response survey (N=325) was used to conduct quantitative and cross-sectional research. There was also a combination of simple random sampling, convenience sampling, and referral sampling. All variables were found to be correlated, and while perceived supervisor support was a significant predictor of all aspects of work engagement and mental well-being, family and co-worker support only predicted certain aspects of these variables. Self-reflection partially moderated the positive effects of certain emotional support on work engagement and mental well-being

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of leadership styles and organizational cultures to employee’s organizational commitment under the pandemic situation in Macao. The dependent variables comprise of the three dimensions of organizational commitment. Among those three, affective commitment and continuance commitment are considered to be analyzed in this study. The leadership styles concept and organizational cultures are applied as the independent variables. The objectives are achieved using quantitative research method with questionnaires in Likert scale scores. The two significance reveals that laissez-faire leadership style had a positive relationship with continuance organizational commitment (H4) and innovative culture had a positive correlation with continuance organization commitment (H6). Such outcomes were extended to a qualitative study with qualitative approach on discourse analysis to explore the potential factor and a leadership discourse analysis was initiated. While the findings on influence of leadership and culture on organizational commitment is not a major concern for Macao employees in the pandemic situation, the significance of specific leadership style and culture rationalizes the transformation and status of Macao employees’ views towards leadership and employers’ perspective on organizational culture. The data collected in this study may also provide valuable resources for future study and training programs for the coming batch of employees in the coming new phase of Macao in entering the 2nd round of gaming licensing. Create the right leadership and culture for the organization to bring back the passion of Macao employees

"Parenting styles may have various effects on children’s development and educational outcomes, particularly a relationship with behavioral problems and academic achievement. This study examines the relationship of between parenting styles, behavioral problems and academic achievement. A cross-sectional and questionnaire-design (Parenting Style Scale (Saunders et al., 2013); Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman & Goodman, 2009; Goodman, 1999; Goodman, 1997)) study was used with a sample total of 98 parents with the eldest child of the family aged between six to twelve. Results of the findings are mainly inconsistent with the majority of literature. Indulgent and authoritative parenting are the predominant parenting styles, yet parenting styles does not relate to academic achievement. On the other hand, the correlation between behavioral problems, specifically prosocial behaviors and academic achievement are moderate. Furthermore, there is no difference between the type of behavioral problems according to gender. In further studies, a larger sample size, teachers and students as informants, and the inclusion of the analysis of other factors that could be influencing parenting styles, behavioral problems and academic achievement are suggested to be considered. "

The aims of the present study are to investigate the level of work engagement of the inclusive teachers in Macau and what potential factors would contribute to the increase of their level of work engagement. In this research, the framework of the self-determination theory developed by Ryan and Deci in 2000 was partially employed. I suggested the inclusive teachers’ self-efficacy and perceived autonomy to act as the independent variables, while perceived organisational support was involved as the mediating variable. Quantitative method was applied in this study by using an online self-response questionnaire (N= 150). The stratified sampling strategy was applied as well in order to ensure the representativeness. No gender difference of work engagement level was found among Macau inclusive teachers. Positive correlations were found among all variables. Besides, perceived organisational support was expressing positive mediating effects on the relationships between independent and dependent variables under some specific circumstances. For example, the relationship between efficacy to use inclusive instructions and emotional and physical work engagement; the relationship between perceived autonomy and cognitive, emotional, and physical work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications for the non-tertiary schools and inclusive teachers can be found in this study. Future studies should be continued to investigate the limitations and suggestions of this field of research