Global Mental Health

The World Health Organization developed Step-by-step, the first digital mental health intervention designed to address depression in diverse populations globally. Our research team is the first in Asia to engage in the cultural adaptation and evaluation of this program; we culturally adapted Step-by-Step for Chinese young adults, and for Overseas Filipino Workers.

Our clinical trials of Step-by-Step are ongoing.

Chinese youth 

*Sit, H. F., Hong, L.W., Burchert, S., Sou, E.K.L., Wong, M., Chen, W., Lam, A.I.F., & Hall, B. J. (2022). A feasibility study of the WHO digital mental health intervention Step-by-Step to address depression among Chinese young adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry, Digital Mental Health, 12:812667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.812667.

*Ling, R., Sit, H.F., Lam, A.I.F., Tucker, J., Latkin, C. A., & Hall, B. J. (2021). Crowdsourcing to design a marketing package to promote a WHO digital mental health intervention among Chinese young adults. Internet Interventions, 25, 100397.

*Sit, H.F., *Ling, R., Lam, A.I.F., Chen, W., Latkin, C., & Hall, B. J. (2020). The cultural adaptation of Step-by-Step: An intervention to address depression among Chinese young adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 650. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00650

Filipino Overseas Foreign Workers

Liem, A., Pakingan, K. A., Garabiles, M.R., Sit, H.F., Burchert, S., Lam, A.I.F., & Hall, B. J. (2022). Evaluating implementation of a mental health app for overseas Filipino workers in Macao China: A mixed-methods study of stakeholders’ perspectives. Frontiers in Psychiatry, section Public Mental Health, 13:836156. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.836156

Liem, A., Garabiles, M.R., Pakingan, K. A., Chen, W., Burchert, S., Lam, A.I.F., & Hall, B. J. (2020). A digital mental health intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among overseas Filipino workers: Protocol for a pilot hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial. Implementation Science Communications, 1, 96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00072-y

Garabiles, M. R., Harper- Shehadeh, M., & Hall, B. J. (2019). Cultural adaptation of a scalable World Health Organization E-mental health program for Overseas Filipino Workers, Journal of Medical Internet Research-Formative, 3(1):e11600. doi: doi.org/10.2196/11600

Hall, B. J., Shi, W., Garabiles, M. R., Chan, E. W.W. (2018). Correlates of expected eMental Health intervention uptake among Filipino domestic workers in China. Global Mental Health, 5, e33. doi: doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2018.25

COMET (Covid-19 Mental Health Survey) is a global research consortium (led by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) that developed an electronic longitudinal cohort study (nearly 2 years follow-up), which includes 16 partner institutions from 14 countries. The cohort was established at the beginning of the COVID-19 with data collection beginning in May 2020.

Data is being analyzed and results are currently being disseminated.

Gémes, K., Bergström, J., Papola, D., Barbui, C., Lam, A. I. F., Hall, B. J., Seedat, S., Morina, N., Quero, S., Campos, D., Pinucci, I., Tarsitani, L., Deguen. S., van der Waerden, J., Patanè, M., Sijbrandij, M., Acartürk, C., Burchert, S., Bryant, R.A., & Mittendorfer-Rutz, E. (2022). Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia – differences by prior mental illness and migration status. Journal of Affective Disorders, 311, 214-223. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.082

Our research team is developing culturally-informed measurement of mental disorders. Prof. Hall worked on developing the new cultural sections of the International Classification of Diseases 11th edition, and served as a Cross-Cutting Reviser and Reviewer for culture-related text Revisions for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders Text Revision (DSM-5-TR)

Hall, B. J. (2022). Assessment of PTSD in Non-Western Cultures. Eds. Beck, J. G. & Sloan, D. M.
The Oxford Handbook of Traumatic Stress Disorders, Second Edition. Oxford University Press.

Ran, M.S., Hall, B. J., Su, T.T., Prawira, B., Breth-Petersen, M., Li, X.H., & Zhang, T.M. (2021). Stigma of mental illness and cultural factors in Pacific Rim region: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 21, 8. doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02991-5.

*Shi, W., *Shen, R. Z., *Wang., S. Y., & Hall, B. J. (2020). Barriers to professional mental health help-seeking among Chinese adults: A systematic review, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11:442.

Gureje, O., Lewis-Fernandez, R., Hall, B. J., Reed, G. M. (2020). Cultural considerations in the classification of mental disorders: why and how in ICD-11. BMC Medicine, 18, 25. doi: doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-1493-4

Gureje, O., Lewis-Fernandez, R., Hall, B. J., Reed, G. M. (2019). Systematic inclusion of culture-related information in ICD-11. World Psychiatry, 18, 3, 357-358. doi: doi.org/10.1002/wps.20676

Hall, B. J., Chang, K., Chen, W., *Sou, K, Latkin, C., & Yeung, A. (2018). Exploring the association between depression and shenjing shuairuo in a population representative epidemiological study of Chinese adults in Guangzhou, China. Transcultural Psychiatry, 55, 733-753. doi: doi.org/10.1177/1363461518778670

Chu, Q., Cheong, I.H., Phong, P.T., Yang, L., Wang, H., & Hall, B. J. (2021). The unaddressed mental health burden among Chinese cancer patients: a call to action. Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 646-647. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00180-2.

Our team is working in collaboration on a diverse set of projects, to describe and intervene to promote the health and wellbeing of adults, across the life course, including work to address caregiving burden and aging in place among elderly populations.

Chen, F., Zheng, M., Xu, J., Hall, B. J., Pan, Y., Ling, L., & Chen, W. (in press). Impact of migration status on incidence of depression in middle-aged and elderly population in China: exploring healthy migrant and salmon bias hypotheses from mental health perspective. Journal of Affective Disorders

Wang, C., Zhao, P., Xiong, M., Tucker, J.D., Ong, J., Hall, B. J., Sami, M., Zheng, H., & Yang, B. (2021). New syphilis cases in older adults, 2004-2019: An analysis of surveillance data from South China. Frontiers in Medicine, section Infectious Diseases – Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment.

Zheng, J. Li, J., Pei, T., Zhu, T., Cheong, I. H., Hall, B. J., Li, X., Wang, H. (2022). Depressive symptoms and chronic lung disease in middle-aged and older Chinese adults: A Prospective bidirectional association and mediation analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 297, 283-293. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.023

Jin, Y., Sun, H.L., Lam, S., Su, Z., Hall, B.J., Cheung, T., Qin, M.Z., Ng, C.H. & Xiang, Y.T., and the International Research Collaboration on COVID-19. (in press). Depressive symptoms and gender differences in older adults in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic: a network analysis approach. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 18, 3934-3941. doi:10.7150/ijbs.69460

*Sit, H.F., *Huang, L., Chang, K., Chau, W.I., Hall, B. J. (2020). Caregiving burden among informal caregivers of people with disability. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25, 790-813. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12434. IF: 2.917. WOS: Q2 (38/131)

Liu, D., Xi, J., Hall, B. J., Fu, M., Zhang, B., & Guo, J. (2020). Association between attitudes toward aging, social support and depression among older adults living in urban and rural area in China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274, 85-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.052

Zhang, Y.S., Jin, Y., Rao, W.W., Cui, L.J., Li, J.F., Li, L., Ungvari, G.S., Zeng, L.N., Hall, B. J., Li, K.Q., & Xiang, Y.T. (2020). Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of major depressive disorder in older adults in Hebei Province, China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 265, 590-594. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.096

Li, H., Zheng, D., Li, Z., Wu, Z., Wei, F., Cao, X., Wang, J., Li, X., Gao, Q., Li, X., Wang, W., Hall, B. J., Xiang, Y.T., Zheng, D., & Guo, X. (2019). Association of depressive symptoms with incident cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged and older Chinese adults. JAMA Network Open, 2 (12):e1916591. doi: doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.16591

*Wu, T.L, Hall, B. J., Canham, S., & Lam, A.I.F (2016). The Association Between Social Capital and Depression Among Chinese Older Adults Living in Public Housing. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204, 764-769. doi: doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000561

On August 23, 2017, Typhoon Hato made landfall in The Greater Bay Area of China causing devastation to the city. At least 12 people died and over 200 were injured as a result of the storm. It was the worst storm to hit the Macao (SAR) in over 50 years, and the first time that a Typhoon signal 10 was hoisted in nearly 20 years. Over 1Billion USD in damages and lost revenue was reported. The research team worked with the Student Affairs Office of the University of Macau to rapidly screen nearly 2000 students who were affected by the storm. This study will follow these students longitudinally over one year to understand critical risk and resiliency factors for various outcomes.

*Yuan, G., Shi, W., Elhai, J., Montag, C., Chang, K., Jackson, T., & Hall, B. J. (2022). Gaming to cope: Applying network analysis to understand the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and internet gaming disorder symptoms among disaster-exposed Chinese young adults. Addictive Behaviors, 124, 107096.

*Yuan, G., Shi, W., Lowe, S., Chang, K., Jackson, T., & Hall, B. J. (2021). Associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms, perceived social support and psychological distress among disaster-exposed Chinese young adults: A three-wave longitudinal mediation model. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 137, 491-497. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.03.036

*Yuan, G., Park, C., *Birkland, S., *Yip, P., & Hall, B. J. (2021). A network analysis of the association between posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth among disaster-exposed Chinese young adults. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 34, 786-798. doi: 10.1002/jts.22673

*Shi, W. & Hall, B. J. (2021). Help-seeking intention among Chinese college students exposed to a natural disaster: An application of an extended theory of planned behavior (E-TPB). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 56, 1273-1282. doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01993-8

*Shi, W. & Hall, B. J. (2020). Help-Seeking Preferences among Chinese College Students Exposed to a Natural Disaster: A Person-Centered Approach. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11:1, 1761621. doi: doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1761621

Hall, B. J., *Xiong, Y., *Yip, P. S. Y., *Lao, C., *Shi, W., Sou, E. K. L., Chang, K., Wang, L., & Lam, A.I.F (2019). The association between disaster exposure and media use on posttraumatic stress disorder following Typhoon Hato in Macao, China. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10:1, 1558709. doi: doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2018.1558709

*Sit, H. F., Hong, L.W., Burchert, S., Sou, E.K.L., Wong, M., Chen, W., Lam, A.I.F., & Hall, B. J. (2022). A feasibility study of the WHO digital mental health intervention Step-by-Step to address depression among Chinese young adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry, Digital Mental Health, 12:812667. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.812667.

*Ling, R., Sit, H.F., Lam, A.I.F., Tucker, J., Latkin, C. A., & Hall, B. J. (2021). Crowdsourcing to design a marketing package to promote a WHO digital mental health intervention among Chinese young adults. Internet Interventions, 25, 100397.

Liem, A., Garabiles, M.R., Pakingan, K. A., Chen, W., Burchert, S., Lam, A.I.F., & Hall, B. J. (2020). A digital mental health intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among overseas Filipino workers: Protocol for a pilot hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial. Implementation Science Communications, 1, 96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00072-y

Huang, S., Wang, Y., Li, G., Hall, B. J., & Nyman, T. J. (2024). Digital mental health interventions for alleviating depression and anxiety during psychotherapy waiting lists: Systematic review. JMIR Ment Health, 11, e56650. https://doi.org/10.2196/56650 

This project co-led by researchers at the Hong Kong University, and with support from the General Association of Chinese Students, enrolled over 1,700 Chinese secondary school students in the Macao (SAR) who completed an online questionnaire between June 2020 and July 2020. The purpose of this study was to gather key policy relevant data on the impact of lockdowns and mobility restrictions on the health and wellbeing of Chinese youth. Research domains included substance abuse, behavioral addictions, and common mental disorders. Ongoing dissemination of research findings are underway.

Chang, C. I., Sit, H. F., Chao, T., Chen, C., Shen, J., Cao, B., Montag, C., Elhai, J. & Hall, B. J. (2022). Exploring subtypes and correlates of internet gaming disorder severity among adolescents during COVID-19 in China: A latent class analysis. Current Psychology. doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03133-8. IF: 4.297. WOS: Q1 (23/140)