Herman Hay Ming Lo

Herman Hay Ming Lo
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | PolyU · Department of Applied Social Sciences

PhD, RSW, ACounS, AFHKPCA, CCoun

About

131
Publications
32,234
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Introduction
Herman Hay Ming Lo currently works at the Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Herman Hay Ming does research in Quantitative Social Research/mixed methods, family stress and well-being. His current projects include 'Mindfulness and caregiving' and 'Mindfulness and ADHD.'
Additional affiliations
July 2019 - July 2019
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Position
  • Professor (Associate)

Publications

Publications (131)
Article
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Background This study investigates the relationships between resilience dimensions, coping strategies, and prior disaster experience, focusing on disaster preparedness and avoidance behaviors in Taiwan. Methods A total of 550 participants were surveyed, with 57.82% being female and the majority aged between 21 and 40 years. Using confirmatory fact...
Article
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Objectives Whereas some women may perceive pregnancy as a welcome challenge and a source of satisfaction, self-development, and maturity, others may experience perinatal-specific stress (PSS). Emerging evidence has demonstrated the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for perinatal women. Given the debate about the effects of MBIs on...
Article
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Objectives To investigate the effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation (MBFPE) intervention on caregivers and the young adults with first-episode psychosis in mental health care. Methods Sixty-five caregivers were randomly assigned to the MBFPE program (n = 33) or an ordinary family psychoeducation (FPE) program (n = 32). Eighteen you...
Article
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Introduction Emerging evidence supports mindfulness as a potential psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals with subthreshold PTSD experience significant impairment in their daily life and functioning due to PTSD symptoms, despite not meeting the full diagnostic criteria for PTSD in DSM-5. Mindfulness skills, including n...
Article
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Background This is the first study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among young adolescents in Hong Kong. Methods This double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial included a TPS group and a sham TPS group, encompassing a total of 30...
Article
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Objectives Online mindfulness-based program (MBP) for parents and families especially in clinical population is limited. Engagement and significant dropout are major issues in MBP implementation. This pilot study examined the effects of an online mindfulness-based program (MBP) on parents of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (A...
Article
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Importance Alcohol use is prevalent among university students. Mobile instant messaging apps could enhance the effectiveness of an alcohol brief intervention (ABI), but the evidence is scarce. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of an ABI plus 3 months of mobile chat-based instant messaging support for alcohol reduction in university students...
Article
Background: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals report high rates of mistreatment in the form of interpersonal stigma. These experiences can negatively impact their mental health. However, few studies have explored this relationship within a Chinese context. This study aims to investigate the connection between various forms of interpe...
Chapter
There are a limited number of standardized mindfulness measures designed specifically for children and adolescents. The first section of this chapter reviews seven mindfulness scales that have been validated or used in previous studies for mindfulness-based programs targeting this population. The advantages and limitations of each scale are discuss...
Chapter
This chapter provides an overview of the application of MBPs for children and adolescents facing various mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, substance use, suicide, aggression, and disruptive disorders. In addition, it explores the adaptation of MBPs for children and adolescents with various health challenges, including chronic...
Chapter
Over the last decade, there has been an increase in studies focusing on implementation sciences, including the implementation of MBPs, particularly in children. The positive outcomes observed in translating MBP to children have raised concerns about effective implementation in various settings, especially in schools. It is important to accurately d...
Chapter
In this chapter, we delve into the evolution of the concept of mindful parenting and how it has developed over time. We explore the contributions of Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, Susan Bögels, and others who have significantly shaped our understanding of mindful parenting. Furthermore, we examine the attempts made to operationalize and measure mindful p...
Chapter
There is a growing interest in the application of MBPs to support children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. This chapter reviews the evidence regarding the benefits of mindfulness among children and adolescents diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability...
Chapter
This chapter begins by exploring the traditional Buddhist interpretation of mindfulness and then shifts to highlighting the increased interest in Eastern meditation techniques starting from the 1960s. It also covers the development of secular mindfulness-based programs, beginning with the implementation of mindfulness-based stress reduction initiat...
Chapter
This chapter explores the increasing number of studies since 2010 that have incorporated MBPs into school curricula. Several structured MBPs and their reported effectiveness are reviewed. While many earlier studies reported positive outcomes in mental health and self-regulation among children and adolescents, more recent studies using large sample...
Chapter
This chapter focuses on the adaptation of MBPs among teachers in school settings. It explores the concepts and theories that highlight the relevance of mindfulness in teaching, as discussed in existing literature. This chapter also examines the various methods used to evaluate mindfulness in teaching, primarily relying on self-reported measures. Ad...
Chapter
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the ethical considerations involved in teaching mindfulness to children and adolescents. It begins by examining the debate surrounding the transformation of a traditional Buddhist meditative practice into a secular mindfulness program. Subsequently, it delves into a discussion of ethical concerns wi...
Chapter
This chapter reviews earlier literature that acknowledges the significant role of spirituality and meditation in promoting positive well-being and resourcefulness among children and adolescents. The shared elements of spirituality and mindfulness in fostering children’s socioemotional development and mental health outcomes provide a common thread....
Article
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Objectives This study explored the acute effects of meditation on prospective memory (PM) in older adults. Study 1 evaluated whether focused attention (FA) meditation improves PM, while Study 2 investigated whether open monitoring (OM) meditation can facilitate PM under the influence of a negative mood. Method In Study 1, 127 healthy older adults...
Article
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b> Introduction: There is a lack of studies evaluating mindfulness-based interventions for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with an evidence-based control. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the effects of mindfulness for youth (MYmind) in improving children’s attention, behavior, and parent-relat...
Article
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Introduction Mothers of children with intellectual disability (ID) are often distressed because of intensive workloads and difficulties in communicating with their children. Given the interdependence between the psychosocial well-being of such dyads, interventions that promote parent–child relationships and mutual communication would be beneficial....
Chapter
In this chapter, a brief introduction to mindfulness is offered, with an exploration of its qualities and processes that may benefit children. An overview of the existing mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) for children and adolescents are provided and highlight how these programs have been adapted from approaches originally developed for adults. Fin...
Article
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Unlabelled: Objectives: Depressive symptoms are common among older adults and many of them did not seek for professional help. Although Zentangle has been widely implemented in service centers for older adults in many societies, very limited empirical study has been conducted on the effects of this method. This study aims to evaluate the effects o...
Article
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Background Traditional treatment alone might not effectively control the severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technology used on older adults with mild neurocognitive disorders and adults with major depressive disorder. However, there ha...
Article
This study examined the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindful yoga and positive psychology interventions and identified common psychotherapeutic elements that exert critical treatment effects on Hong Kong Chinese students with special educational needs (SENs). Forty‐seven participants received CBT intervention while 42 and 41 part...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Online mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) for parents and families, especially in clinical populations, are limited. Low engagement and substantial dropout are major issues in MBP implementation. OBJECTIVE In this pilot study, we examined the effects of an online MBP on parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (A...
Article
Full-text available
There is growing research interest in experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility across cultures. The original Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) has strong construct validity, but its length has greatly restricted its application in research and clinical practice. In this study, we validated a 15-item version...
Article
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Objective: In this study, we investigated the effects of a mindfulness-based family psychoeducation (MBFPE) program on the mental-health outcomes of both caregivers and young adults with first-episode psychosis with an onset in the past three years through a multi-site randomized controlled trial. We also studied the outcomes of three potential me...
Article
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Parental hostility and emotional rejection—or aggregated as general harsh family interactions with parents—have received little research attention due to such parent-child interactions being counted as minor forms of parental maltreatment and regarded as being less harmful. However, recent research showed that these minor forms of parental maltreat...
Article
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Grounded in an integrative body-mind-spirit (BMS) approach, a brief daily workplace well-being program has been developed for community mental health workers (CMHW) who were vulnerable to burnout. Aiming to evaluate the program’s efficacy, this study adopted a multi-site randomized controlled trial design. Primary outcome measures included work eng...
Article
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Objective: The current study aims to examine the effects of mental health programs on well-being among highly engaged workers. Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to Body-Mind-Spiritual or Peer Support program. Of the whole sample, we examined participants’ work engagement and positive affect from the highest quarter (HWE) and the lowest...
Article
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Studies have consistently shown that family caregivers experience caregiver burden and depression when they provide care for family members with psychosis. Photovoice is a participatory action research method of fostering dialogues about personal experiences by sharing and discussing photographs that may improve our understanding about how a mindfu...
Article
In this paper, the author has reviewed four pieces of practice research that aim to investigate the outcome of social care programmes. Special attention is given to the process where the concerns of social work practitioners and stakeholders, including academic supervisors, agency administrators, funders and policy makers involved in the dialogues....
Article
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Background Psychological distress is a common occurrence among women during the perinatal period. Maternal psychological distress (MPS) can also have a negative influence on neonatal outcomes such as infant health, child development or mother-child interaction. Hence, interventions to improve mental wellbeing during this period are vital. Mindfulne...
Article
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Although the twenty-first century is deemed as a new era of globalization, waves of immigration continue, due to disparities between politically and economically unstable regions and Western democratized and developed countries. Immigration research has therefore reignited its attention on the successful adaptation of immigrants’ offspring, which h...
Article
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Studies have consistently showed that informal caregivers have worse health, more medical consultations, anxiety and depression, and lower quality of life than those who do not provide such care. Positive outcomes of psychoeducation interventions have been found, but many of them are relatively long in duration, making them less cost-effective in i...
Article
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Objectives The social unrest that began in Hong Kong in 2019 became a threat to public mental health, such as for depression and post-traumatic stress disorders. A supportive family environment is the most effective protective factor for mental health problems for young people who are exposed to conflict and violence. This study investigated the ou...
Article
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Child labour remains a prevalent global concern, and progress toward eradicating harmful children’s work appears to have stalled in the African continent and henceforth, integrated social policy intervention is still required to address the problem. Among several forms of social policy interventions, stomach infrastructure (i.e., in-kind and/or cas...
Article
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Objectives Mindfulness practice has been recommended as part of health and social care education and training because of its potential benefits in fostering clinical skills and attitudes, increasing self-care, and reducing the effect of stress in education and occupation. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of a mindfulness-ba...
Article
Objectives: This review systematically synthesizes existing evidence of prospective memory training for healthy older adults (> 55 years). Existing prospective memory training include strategy-based, process-based and combined regimens. Strategy-based training focuses on different mnemonics to compensate for aging declines in prospective memory. P...
Article
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Objectives The present study is aimed at investigating the effects and mechanisms of the Mindful Parenting Program (MPP) on the stress of Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods A total of 113 Chinese parents of children with ADHD were randomly assigned to the MPP group (n = 58) or the treatment as...
Article
This study aimed to examine the role of positive relationships and academic achievement in predicting student well-being, i.e. subjective happiness. This study employed a longitudinal design with two waves of data collection on a sample of 786 primary school students in Hong Kong. Students completed questionnaires on parent-child relationship, teac...
Article
Background: According to the minority stress theory, the minority stressors of gender-related discrimination, rejection, and victimization will increase depression in the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) population. However, few studies focused on these relations in the context of mainland China, and the positive perspective of their re...
Article
This study investigated the effects of self-efficacy and mindfulness on the quality of life of Chinese adolescents. The effects of gender, age, and perceived family functioning were also examined. This cross-sectional study was based on a sample of 462 Hong Kong adolescents 11 to 18 years of age. Self-reported measures were used to collect data on...
Article
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This study investigated the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a concurrent mindfulness program (MYmind) on Chinese adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and their parents in Hong Kong, China using a randomized controlled trial with a waitlist control group. Results showed the study had 80% compliance rate, 0% dropout rate, and 89% re...
Article
Students in Hong Kong are facing tremendous stress due to the overly competitive atmosphere and high expectations of academic success from their parents. Although Hong Kong was a British colony for more than 150 years, some of the traditional Confucian values remained embedded in Hong Kong citizens. Moreover, those values were highly influential fo...
Article
Parental stress increases child behaviour problems, and mindful parenting is suggested to be a potential moderator. The aim of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting (IM-P) scale in Taiwan Chinese and investigate the relationship of mindful parenting with parent and...
Article
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This study assessed the depression status of transgender individuals and their personality profiles for seeing the psychological functioning. We further compared their status with cisgender individuals and explored the role of personality profiles in explaining the variance of depression level among transgender and cisgender individuals. Seventy-on...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Sexual health is a major concern among young adults worldwide, which helps prevent sexually transmitted infectious. To foster individual sexual health, the sexual health literacy should be enhanced. Seldom previous evidence designed to incorporate gender-power dynamics, such as sexual coercion, although the prevalence of sexual coercion...
Article
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Background Sexual health concerns among young adults worldwide help to motivate preventative practices against sexually transmitted infections. To foster better sexual health, sexual health literacy must be enhanced. Little research has been conducted on the impact of gender power dynamics on sexual health, such as sexual coercion, even though the...
Article
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Background Given the emotional demanding nature of social services, we developed a brief daily body-mind-spirit (BMS) program and successfully piloted it with workers at elderly services. The proposed study focuses on community mental health workers who are often under chronic stress and vulnerable to burnout. Methods The study aims to evaluate th...
Article
Objective The present study examined the psychophysiological effects of Family-based Mindfulness Intervention (FBMI) on children and parents from disadvantaged families. Methods This randomized controlled trial recruited parents and their children from 51 disadvantaged families in Hong Kong and randomized them into FBMI (n = 26) and waitlist contr...
Article
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Mind-body intervention has been well established as an alternative psychosocial intervention for managing depression. Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) and health qigong (HQ) are two common forms of mind-body intervention which share the common focus on breathing. However, they may represent two distinct approaches with different mechanisms. MBI...
Article
Treatment options for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are limited. Some social work practitioners have attempted drama-based approaches to improve the functioning and well-being of such children. However, studies on such interventions are few, and their benefits to children with ADHD are uncertain. In this exploratory...
Article
Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) among emerging adults, including heterosexuals and sexual minorities in the Chinese population, is poorly understood. Focusing on college students, the objectives of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of IPSV among Chinese emerging adults, examine the association between sexual orientation and...
Article
Purpose To examine the effects of short-term psychological interventions on reducing family stress of economically disadvantaged families. Method Systematic review and meta-analytic procedures were used to synthesize the results of randomized controlled studies published between 1980 and 2018. Results The search yielded 8 studies that included re...
Article
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Background: With the advent of the recovery movement in mental health, a humanistic paradigm shift has occurred, placing the focus on personal recovery (i.e., hope, identity, and life meaning) instead of functional or clinical recovery only (i.e., symptom reduction or increases in physical function). Along the journey of recovery, people with bipo...
Article
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Family psychoeducation (FPE) has been recommended as a major component in the treatment of psychosis. Many previous studies have implemented an intensive program design that often only emphasized improvements in patients’ illness outcomes but the benefits for caregivers were limited. There have been calls for a time-limited but cost-effective FPE p...
Article
Objective To evaluate the effects of family-based mindfulness intervention (FBMI) to promote the stress management and early development of economically disadvantaged families. Method Families receiving social security allowance and full textbook allowance and with children aged 5–7 were recruited. Participants were randomized to an FBMI with para...
Article
The Smiley Activation Programme (SAP) is a home-based intervention that is targeted to reduce depressive symptoms in elderly Hong Kong Chinese. The SAP includes eight social worker’s home visits and two volunteer visits over 19 weeks and a three-month follow-up, integrating problem-solving treatment and behavioural activation. This study aims to ev...
Article
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Introduction Mindfulness is one of the potential alternative interventions for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Some evidence suggests that mindfulness is related to changes in brain regions associated with ADHD. The potential benefits of mindfulness on children with ADHD, as well as the feasibility of this interventio...
Article
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Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly being used in parent training and family-based programs to improve family well-being. The Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting (IM-P) scale was adopted as a measure to investigate the quality of interpersonal mindfulness in parenting. We conducted a study to validate IM-P in Hong Kong Chinese commu...
Article
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Gambling-related cognitions and negative psychological states have been proposed as major factors in the initiation and maintenance of problem gambling (PG). While there are a substantial number of studies supporting the role of cognitive dysfunctions in the initiation and maintenance of PG, very few empirical studies have explored the specific rol...
Article
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Very few clinical cognitive-behavioural intervention (CBI) studies were conducted with the Chinese gamblers. There is a lack of attention paid to intervening in negative emotions that may also adversely affect PGs in current CBI treatment modality. This study is the first attempt to systematically and rigorously evaluate both the short-term and lon...
Article
Although parent–child discrepant perception of the family has been increasingly noted in the west, pertinent research is limited in Chinese societies. In addition, prior pertinent studies predominantly treated parent–child discrepant effects as independent of the general and aggregate family context, which are in fact inseparable. Furthermore, thes...
Article
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The multidimensional PERMA-H positive education model provided evaluation and education framework for the theoretical and practice development of positive psychology in schools. Character strengths use mediates the association of strength knowledge and well-being. Using the Assessment Program for Affective and Social Outcomes (2nd Version) (APASO-I...
Article
This exploratory study examined the relationship between family functioning and individual’s well-being across seven East Asian cities. 3,834 participants recruited through convenience sampling completed a family survey. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVAs, and hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results showed that, among the surv...
Article
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Parents of children with developmental disabilities are more likely to report parental stress and depression. This, in turn, leads to vicious cycles of negative outcomes for these children and the family’s well-being. To address the difficulties of such parents, the authors developed a brief mindfulness-based program for parents of children with de...
Article
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Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility of a family-based mindfulness intervention in improving children with inattention and hyperactivity symptoms. Method: A total of 100 children aged 5 to 7 years with ADHD symptoms and their parents were randomly assigned to a family-based mindfulness intervention (n = 50) or a wait-li...
Article
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This was a pilot pre–post-intervention study with added qualitative focused group discussions and interviews to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of a mindfulness-based intervention (the 8-week MYmind course) for Chinese children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) aged 8 to 12 years (n = 11) and one of their pare...
Conference Paper
Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the variation in time interval between heart rates (RR-interval). Studies have demonstrated that emotional disorder is associated with lower HRV. Electrocardiography (ECG) is the conventional HRV measurement conducted by healthcare professionals. Wearable devices with HRV measurement function may b...
Article
This study examined the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adolescent suicidal ideation in Hong Kong, China. Emotional competence and resilience were investigated as possible moderators of the relationship between physical abuse and suicidal ideation. A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted and a total of 26...
Article
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Suicidal ideation is defined as the thoughts about engaging in suicidal-related behaviors. Very few studies have been conducted on children’s suicidal ideation as there is a biased perception that suicidal behavior under the age of 12 is scarce. However, suicide is the leading cause of death among young children. Child suicidal ideation is predicti...