The research theme of population studies covers a wide range issues relating to population and wellbeing. Our work involves the major components in population dynamic modelling, namely, fertility, mortality, marriage and divorce, poverty, and migration. International comparison has been conducted examining fertility and international migration. The research theme is supported by a strategic public policy research (SPPR) on integrated population policy, a Chief Executive Community project on poverty, numerous peer review UGC and international grants.
Our expertise covers a wide range of population modelling tools, including spatial analysis to examine poverty and service provision in Hong Kong and multilevel modeling to examine wellbeing of the population in individual, household and community levels. We are developing assessment tools in social return on investment (SROI) and program evaluation for many social and welfare programs. The wellbeing of migrants and their left-behind families is also another area of interest.
There are active and intensive international research collaborations with colleagues at Melbourne University, National University of Singapore, Renmin University, Fudan University, and Columbia University. Interdisciplinary research teams have been established with colleagues in faculties of humanities, medicine, business and science. Innovative methods have been developed in understanding the population dynamics with real impact to the social and public policies in Hong Kong and other global regions of the world. We have also provided consultancy service to Hong Kong SAR Government, OECD, UNICEF, Terres D’Hommes and many other local organizations on population issues.
The members are also serving in a number of Government committees, for example, Commission on Poverty, Care Fund, Central Policy Unit and Strategic Population Policy Committee.
| Member | Training | Specialties |
|---|---|---|
| Prof. Paul Yip Professor (Convenor) |
Population Health | Evidence-Based Suicide Prevention Measures and Program; Program Evaluation; Poverty Alleviation Study; Population Studies; Big data analytics |
| Prof. Emery Clifton Associate Professor |
Social Work, Statistics, Sociology, Women’s Studies | Child maltreatment, domestic violence, refugees |
| Prof. Paul Wong Associate Professor |
Clinical Psychologist | Social inclusion |
| Prof. Frances Yik Wa Law Associate Professor |
Social Work | Social work and education and program evaluation |
| Prof. Jian Gao Assistant Professor |
Computational social science |
Science of science, social big data, complex systems, network science, public policy |
| Prof. Peiyi Lu Assistant Professor |
Gerontology, Social Work, Statistics, Public Health | Social determinants of health, social welfare policy |
| Topic | PI/ Co-Investigator | Funding sources | Award Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aging experiences of middle-aged and older adults living in subdivided housing | PI: Prof. Peiyi Lu | HKU seed fund HK$ 300,000 |
2024-2026 |
| A study on poverty transition and the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programs. | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | UGC Hunanities and Social Science Prestigious Scheme HK$ 379,000 |
2020/2021 |
| Protective Informal Social Control of Child Maltreatment, Adolescent Health Behavior, and Empathy: A Nationally Representative 2 Wave Panel Study of Mothers and Adolescents in Nepal. | PI: Prof. Emery Clifton | General Research Fund (GRF) $808,464 HKD |
2020-2023 |
| A community-based support programme to enhance mental well-being of older adults in Wong Tai Sin | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | HKJC HK$ 8,230,000 |
2019-2022 |
| An Exploratory Study on Understanding Online Risks and children’s Online Behavior in Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Emery Clifton | Save the Children Hong Kong $698,181 HKD |
2019-2020 |
| Project Bridge: 5-Step Method for Promoting the Wellbeing of the Family Members of Substance Abusers and for Motivating Hidden Substance Abusers to Seek Treatment | PI: Prof. Paul Wong | Beat Drugs Fund Association HK$1.73 million |
2019 |
| The impact of poverty and social welfare subsidy on mental health in Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | GRF HK$ 724,000 |
2018-2021 |
| Suicide among Cancer patients | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | Li Ka Sing Foundation HK$ 980,000 |
2018-2020 |
| Study on the Recovery Process of Inmates with History of Drug Abuse: Challenges and Opportunities | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | Beat Drug Fund | 2018-2020 |
| Online Crisis Support Service for Youth Project | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | HKJC HK$ 6.780,000 |
2018-2020 |
| JC-Connect: Family Support for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders – Phase II | PI: Prof. Paul Wong | HK Jockey Club Charities Trust HK$11.2 million |
2018 |
| Social emotional learning and human education for primary school students | PI: Prof. Paul Wong | Keswick Foundation HK$4.6 million |
2018 |
| The effect of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic status on older adult’s health: a cross sectional and propective cohort study in Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | GRF HK$ 404,567 |
2016-2019 |
| A Study on Population Dynamics in One Belt One Road: Opportunities and Challenges | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | PPR HK$ 536,781 | 2016-2018 |
| A Study on Population Dynamics in One Belt One Road: Opportunities and Challenges | PI: Prof. Paul Yip Co-I: Dr. CL Kwok |
Central Policy Unit PPR HK$536,781 | 2016 |
| The effect of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic status on older adult’s health: a cross sectional and prospective cohort study in Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Paul Yip Co-I: Dr. CH Chan |
GRF HK$404,567 | 2016 |
| Social Inclusion: Ethnicity – Positive Youth Development for Ethnic Minority Youth in Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Paul Wong | HK Jockey Club Charities Trust HK$3,400,000 | 2016 |
| Evaluation Study of “Youth Outreach Jockey Club: Youth Cultural Front Line | PI: Prof. Paul Wong | Youth Outreach | 2015 |
| JC-Connect: Family Support for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders | Co-I: Prof. Paul Wong | HK Jockey Club Charities Trust HK$3,200,000 | 2015 |
| A Chief Executive community project on Poverty: its causes and alleviation measures | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | HK$14,600,000 | 2014 |
| A temporal spatial analysis of morbidity and mortality for Hong Kong population | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | RGC HK$672,837 | 2014 |
| An integrated study of population policy for Hong Kong | PI: Prof. Paul Yip | SPPR HK$3,700,000 | 2013 |
| Project Year | Investigator(s) | Name of Project |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | PI: Prof. Paul Yip Co-I: Dr. CH Chan |
Consultancy Study on the Long-Term Development of Child Care Services” Yip Paul., S.F., Chan C.H., and the team. Mon 2017 – Dec 2017. HK$ 3,000,000 supported by Social Welfare Department, HKSAR |
| 2016 | PI: Prof. Paul Yip Co-I: Dr. CL Kwok |
Follow-up study on movement of Type A and B Babies in Hong Kong. HK$ 246,965 Funded by HKSAR Government |
| 2016 | PI: Prof. Paul Yip Co-I: Dr. CH Chan |
HKSAR Government Consultancy Services for Evaluation Study of the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund HK$ 3,774,933 |
1. Fong, T. C. T., Cheng, Q., Pai, C. Y., Kwan, I., Wong, C., Cheung, S.-H., Yip, P. S. F. (2023). Uncovering sample heterogeneity in gaming and social withdrawal behaviors in adolescent and young adult gamers in Hong Kong. Social Science & Medicine, 321, 115774. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115774
2. Chen, Y.-Y., Yang, C.-T., Yip, P. S. F. (2023). The increase in suicide risk in older adults in Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Affective Disorders, 327, 391-396. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.006
3. Junus, A., Kwan, C., Wong, C., Chan, Z., Yip, P. S. F. (2023). Shifts in patterns of help-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Hong Kong’s younger generation. Social Science & Medicine, 318, 115648. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115648
4. Li, Z., Fong, T. C. T., Yip, P. S. F. (2023). Helping intentions toward suicidal people among young adults: Patterns, transitions, and influencing factors. Journal of Affective Disorders, 325, 611-617. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.058
5. Bi, K., Chan, C. S., Xiao, Y., Yip, P. S. F. (2023). The Indirect Effect of Sleep on the Association Between Protracted Social Stressors and Psychological Distress Among Hong Kong Young People. Journal of Adolescent Health. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.243.
6. Chan, C.S., Yang, C.T., Xu, Y., He, L., Yip, P.S.F. (2022). Variability in the psychological impact of four waves of COVID-19: A time-series study of 60,000 text-based counseling sessions. Psychol Med. 2022 Mar 1:1-37. doi: 10.1017/S0033291722000587.
7. Yip, P.S.F., Pinkney, E. (2022). Social media and suicide in social movements: a case study in Hong Kong. J Comput Soc Sc.
8. Yip, P., Yeung, C., Chen, Y., Lai, C., & Wong, C. (2022). An evaluation of the long‐term sustainability of suicide prevention programs in an offshore Island. Suicide & Life-threatening Behavior, 52(1), 4-13.
9. Cai, Z., Chen, M., Ye, P., & Yip, P. S. F. (2022). Socio-economic determinants of suicide rates in transforming China: A spatial-temporal analysis from 1990 to 2015. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 19.
10. Men, Y. V., Yeung, C. Y., & Yip, P. S. F. (2022). The association between unemployment and suicide among employed and unemployed people in Hong Kong: A time-series analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 305, 240-243.
11. Yip, P. S. F., Zheng, Y., & Wong, C. (2022). Demographic and epidemiological decomposition analysis of global changes in suicide rates and numbers over the period 1990–2019. Injury prevention, 28(2), 117-124.
12. Men, Y. V., Lam, T. C., Yeung, C. Y., & Yip, P. S. F. (2021). Understanding the impact of clinical characteristics and healthcare utilizations on suicide among cancer sufferers: a case-control study in Hong Kong. The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific, 17, 100298.
13. Men, V. Y., Emery, C. R., & Yip, P. S. (2021). Characteristics of cancer patients who died by suicide: A quantitative study of 15‐year coronial records. Psycho‐Oncology, 30(7), 1051-1058
14. Yip, P. S. F., Chan, W.L., Cheng, Q., Chow, S., Hsu, S.M., Law, Y.W., Lo, B., Ngai, K., Wong, K.Y., Xiong, C., Yeung, T.K. (2020). A 24-hour Online Youth Emotional Support: Opportunities and Challenges. Lancet Regional Health -West Pacific. Vol 4 100047..
15. Yip, P. S. F., et al. (2020). Is there gender bias in research grant success in social sciences?: Hong Kong as a case study. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 7(1).
16. Yip, P., & Chau, P. H. (2020). Physical Distancing and Emotional Closeness Amidst COVID-19. Crisis, 41(3), 153–155.
A.1. Emery, C.R., Wu, S., & Chan, K.L. (2020, Online first): “A Comparative Study of Totalitarian Style Partner Control in Seoul and Beijing: Confucian Sex-Role Norms, Secrecy, and Missing Data.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, doi: 10.1177/0886260518787208. (IF = 3.573, 4/47 in Family Studies, 4/69 in Criminology, 14/84 in Psychology, Applied. Cit: 3). This was the first study of totalitarian style partner control, and also the first to look at neighborhood level Confucian Sex-Role norms in relation to this type of IPV.
A.2. Emery, C.R., Jordan, L.P., Chui, C. (2020): “Friends in Need: Bystander Control of Intimate Partner Violence in Beijing and Seoul.” Sex Roles, 82(11): 673-687. June, 2020. (IF = 2.409, 4/45 in Women’s Studies, 19/64 in Psychology, Social, 22/77 Psychology, Developmental. Cit: 1).
A.3. Emery, C.R., Eremina, T., Arenas, C., Kim, J., & Chan, E. (2020): “When Bigger is Better: Household Size, Abuse Injuries, Neglect, and Family Response in Novosibirsk, Russia.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(3-4): 1035-1051. February, 2020. (IF = 3.573, 4/47 in Family Studies, 4/69 in Criminology, 14/84 in Psychology, Applied. Cit: 2).
A.4. Emery, C.R., Yang, H., Kim, O., Ko, Y. (2019): “A Multiplicative Approach to Polyvictimization: A Study of Intimate Partner Violence Types as Risk Factors for Child Polyvictimization in South Korea.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(5): 783-797. March, 2019. (IF = 2.849, 32/170 in Public, Environmental, and Occupational Health. Cit: 1).
1. Fu, Y., & Law, Y.W. (Accepted). “Chinese Adolescents’ Meaning-focused Coping with Prolonged Parent-child Separation. Journal of Adolescence.
2. Law, Y.W. (2016). Youth suicide and its prevention in Hong Kong: The emerging approaches for a long-standing issue. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(2), 3–12. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Federation of Youth Group.
3. Sha, F., Yip, P.S.F., & Law, Y.W. (2016). Decomposing change in China’s suicide rate, 1990–2010: Aging and urbanisation. Injury Prevention [Publish Online First] doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042006
4. Law, Y.W., Wong, P.W.C., & Yip, P.S.F. (2015). Health and psychosocial service use among suicides without psychiatric illness. Social Work, 60, 65–74. doi: 10.1093/sw/swu054
5. Law, Y.W., Yip, P.S., Zhang, Y., & Caine, E.D. (2014). The chronic impact of work on suicides and under-utilization of psychiatric and psychosocial services. Journal of Affective Disorders, 168C, 254–261. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.06.031