Efficacy of ChatGPT in Cantonese Sentiment Analysis: Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: Sentiment analysis is a significant yet difficult task in natural language processing. The linguistic peculiarities of Cantonese, including its high similarity with Standard Chinese, its grammatical and lexical uniqueness, and its colloquialism and multilingualism, make it different from other languages and pose additional challenges to sentiment analysis. Recent advances in models such as ChatGPT offer potential viable solutions. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the efficacy of GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in Cantonese sentiment analysis in the context of web-based counseling and compared their performance with other mainstream methods, including lexicon-based methods and machine learning approaches. METHODS: We analyzed transcripts from a web-based, text-based counseling service in Hong Kong, including a total of 131 individual counseling sessions and 6169 messages between counselors and help-seekers. First, a codebook was developed for human annotation. A simple prompt ("Is the sentiment of this Cantonese text positive, neutral, or negative? Respond with the sentiment label only.") was then given to GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to label each message's sentiment. GPT-3.5 and GPT-4's performance was compared with a lexicon-based method and 3 state-of-the-art models, including linear regression, support vector machines, and long short-term memory neural networks. RESULTS: Our findings revealed ChatGPT's remarkable accuracy in sentiment classification, with GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, respectively, achieving 92.1% (5682/6169) and 95.3% (5880/6169) accuracy in identifying positive, neutral, and negative sentiment, thereby outperforming the traditional lexicon-based method, which had an accuracy of 37.2% (2295/6169), and the 3 machine learning models, which had accuracies ranging from 66% (4072/6169) to 70.9% (4374/6169). CONCLUSIONS: Among many text analysis techniques, ChatGPT demonstrates superior accuracy and emerges as a promising tool for Cantonese sentiment analysis. This study also highlights ChatGPT's applicability in real-world scenarios, such as monitoring the quality of text-based counseling services and detecting message-level sentiments in vivo. The insights derived from this study pave the way for further exploration into the capabilities of ChatGPT in the context of underresourced languages and specialized domains like psychotherapy and natural language processing.

Variability in the psychological impact of four waves of COVID-19: a time-series study of 60 000 text-based counseling sessions.

BACKGROUND: Continuous exposure to stressors can lead to vulnerability and, in some cases, resilience. This study examined the variation in its psychological impact across the first four waves of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. METHODS: Transcripts from Open Up, an online text-based counseling service, between January 2019 and January 2021 were analyzed (N = 60 775). We identified COVID-19 mentioned sessions using keywords and further categorized them into those that also mentioned symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs) and those that did not. Autoregressive integrated moving average models were used to analyze the associations between the severity of the outbreak and the mention of COVID-19 and CMDs. RESULTS: Results revealed that the pandemic led to increased psychological distress. Compared to prior to its advent, more people sought help in the initial months of the outbreak. Furthermore, associations were found between the severity of the outbreak and the number of help-seeker mentioning the pandemic, as well as between the outbreak severity and the number of help-seekers disclosing psychological distress. However, these relationships were not uniform across the four waves of outbreaks; a dissociation between outbreak severity and help-seekers' concern was found in the fourth wave. CONCLUSION: As the pandemic waxes and wanes, people may become habituated to its psychological toll. This may be interpreted as a form of resilience. Instead of worsening with time, the psychological impact of COVID-19 may reduce with repeated exposure.

Treating depression with a smartphone-delivered self-help cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a parallel-group randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite its efficacy in treating comorbid insomnia and depression, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is limited in its accessibility and, in many countries, cultural compatibility. Smartphone-based treatment is a low-cost, convenient alternative modality. This study evaluated a self-help smartphone-based CBT-I in alleviating major depression and insomnia. METHODS: A parallel-group randomized, waitlist-controlled trial was conducted with 320 adults with major depression and insomnia. Participants were randomized to receive either a 6-week CBT-I via a smartphone application, proACT-S, or waitlist condition. The primary outcomes included depression severity, insomnia severity, and sleep quality. The secondary outcomes included anxiety severity, subjective health, and acceptability of treatment. Assessments were administered at baseline, post-intervention (week 6) follow-up, and week 12 follow-up. The waitlist group received treatment after the week 6 follow-up. RESULTS: Intention to treat analysis was conducted with multilevel modeling. In all but one model, the interaction between treatment condition and time at week 6 follow-up was significant. Compared with the waitlist group, the treatment group had lower levels of depression [Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): Cohen's d = 0.86, 95% CI (-10.11 to -5.37)], insomnia [Insomnia Severity Index (ISI): Cohen's d = 1.00, 95% CI (-5.93 to -3.53)], and anxiety [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Anxiety subscale (HADS-A): Cohen's d = 0.83, 95% CI (-3.75 to -1.96)]. They also had better sleep quality [Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): Cohen's d = 0.91, 95% CI (-3.34 to -1.83)]. No differences across any measures were found at week 12, after the waitlist control group received the treatment. CONCLUSION: proACT-S is an efficacious sleep-focused self-help treatment for major depression and insomnia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04228146. Retrospectively registered on 14 January 2020. http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04228146.

Boredom belief moderates the mental health impact of boredom among young people: Correlational and multi-wave longitudinal evidence gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Young people's experience of boredom and its psychological health sequelae have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examined the moderating role of boredom beliefs-the extent to which one affectively dislikes boredom (boredom dislike) and cognitively accepts it (boredom normalcy)-on the association between boredom experience and mental well-being. We also validated a new measure of boredom beliefs in two different samples of young people. METHOD: We report data from a correlational study with British young people aged 12-25 (Study 1; N = 2495) and a 16-week eight-wave within-subject study with Israeli adolescents aged 12-18 (Study 2; N = 314). RESULTS: Across both studies, disliking boredom was associated with higher frequency and intensity of boredom. Boredom dislike moderated the negative association between boredom and mental well-being, such that the association was more salient among those who strongly disliked boredom. Normalizing boredom was positively associated with mental well-being. The measure of boredom beliefs demonstrated fair validity and reliability. CONCLUSION: Results provide novel insights into the potential buffering effect of boredom beliefs against the mental health impact of boredom, particularly at a time of reduced activity. These findings generalize across two different countries.

Indirect contact with nature, lifestyle, and mental health outcomes during mandatory hotel quarantine in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: During the pandemic of COVID-19 Hong Kong lead one of the world's longest and most stringent quarantine measures. AIMS: To examine cross-sectionally (i) the relationship between the duration of mandatory hotel quarantine and mental health outcomes; (ii) whether indirect contact with nature and lifestyle factors (i.e. diet, sleep, exercises, social support, and sense of meaning), mitigated this relationship. METHODS: A group of 248 participants under 14 or 21-d mandatory hotel quarantine in Hong Kong completed an online questionnaire that included quarantine and lifestyle-related questions, as well as mental health outcome measures. RESULTS: For those under a 21-d quarantine, there was a significant effect of the week of quarantine on the level of depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-4), which peaked in Week 2. Worse quality of sleep, a lower sense of meaning, and a longer set (but not completed) duration of quarantine were predictors of worse mental health outcomes. The positive relationship between the day of quarantine and the level of perceived stress was moderated by the indirect contact with nature. CONCLUSION: The results shed light on the potential negative impact of prolonged periods of quarantine on mental health outcomes and the possible protective factors.

Attention Drifting In and Out: The Boredom Feedback Model.

We synthesize established and emerging research to propose a feedback process model that explicates key antecedents, experiences, and consequences of the emotion boredom. The proposed Boredom Feedback Model posits that the dynamic process of boredom resembles a feedback loop that centers on attention shifts instigated by inadequate attentional engagement. Inadequate attentional engagement is a discrepancy between desired and actual levels of attentional engagement and is a product of external and internal influences, reflected in objective resources and cognitive appraisals. The model sheds light on several essential yet unresolved puzzles in the literature, including how people learn to cope with boredom, how to understand the relation between self-control and boredom, how the roles of attention and meaning in boredom can be integrated, why boredom is associated with both high- and low-arousal negative emotions, and what contributes to chronic boredom. The model offers testable hypotheses for future research.

What is boredom proneness? A comparison of three characterizations.

OBJECTIVE: Boredom proneness is associated with various problematic behaviors and mental health issues. Despite its wide-ranging implication, boredom proneness as a trait-like construct suffers from conceptual ambiguity and measurement issues. We examined whether boredom proneness represents individual differences in (a) the frequency of getting bored, (b) the intensity of boredom, and/or (c) a holistic perception of life being boring (perceived life boredom). METHOD: Across Study 1 (U.S. Sample, N = 495; HK Sample, N = 231) and Study 2 (N = 608), we tested the construct validity of boredom proneness by estimating its association with measures of the three possible characterizations (convergent validity), and examined to what extent associations between boredom proneness and variables relevant to well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, psychological distress) could be reproduced with the three potential characterizations (concurrent validity). RESULTS: Results suggest that each of the three characterizations represents some aspect of boredom proneness, and they generally reproduced boredom proneness' associations with other variables. Among them, perceived life boredom had the strongest convergent and concurrent validity. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide novel insights into the characterization of boredom proneness and its hitherto poorly understood relationship with psychological well-being.

Delayed school start time is associated with better sleep, daytime functioning, and life satisfaction in residential high-school students.

The effects of a delayed school start time by one hour were examined at a boarding school in Hong Kong. Two cohorts of high school students (N = 228; 61.8% female) were recruited respectively before and after a school start time changed from 7:30am to 8:30am. Both cross-cohort and within-cohort longitudinal comparisons yielded significant increase in total sleep time. Cross-cohort comparison yielded improvement in sleep quality, insomnia, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Longitudinal data suggested that the longer the additional sleep time, the better was sleep quality, day-time functioning, and subjective wellbeing.

Life satisfaction and perceived stress among young offenders in a residential therapeutic community: Latent change score analysis.

Recent rehabilitation frameworks underscore the importance of strength-based interventions for young offenders who may lack internal and external resources to manage their stress and plan for their life. This multi-wave longitudinal study investigated the dynamic relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction among a group of young ex-offenders in a residential therapeutic community. Four waves of data were collected from 117 Hong Kong youths (24.0% female, mean age = 17.7) over one year. Latent change score analysis was employed to examine the univairate and bivariate changes of their perceived stress and life satisfaction. Results suggest a positive growth trajectory in life satisfaction over time. The results of perceived stress were less conclusive. Bivariate models indicated that the previous level of life satisfaction was negatively linked to the subsequent perceived stress level but not vice versa. The findings suggest that improvement in life satisfaction may reduce perceived stress in young ex-offenders.

The Sequelae and Moderators of Influence of Dandruff on Mental Health Among Mainland Chinese Adults.

Introduction: The psychological impact of dandruff has been largely understudied. Methods: In this cross-sectional study (N = 2116), we examined the consequences of self-perception of dandruff severity on mental health, quality of life, and sleep quality among Chinese adults. Additionally, we examined the moderating factors that influence these associations. Results: Bivariate analyses revealed that greater self-perceived dandruff severity was associated with poorer mental health, lower quality of life, and reduced sleep quality. Furthermore, dandruff severity was positively correlated with appearance anxiety, feelings of helplessness, and perceived stigma. Individuals with more severe dandruff experienced increased teasing and ostracism and, subsequently, heightened psychological distress. Moderation analyses demonstrated that females were more adversely affected by dandruff than males, and those with comorbid skin conditions or a history of being teased and ostracized during adolescence due to dandruff experienced exacerbated negative outcomes. Discussion: This study highlights the need for further research on the psychological consequences of self-perceived severity of dandruff and potential interventions to mitigate its impact.

Delayed school start time is associated with better sleep, mental health, and life satisfaction among residential high-school students: A prospective study.

This study examined the longer-term individual- and school-level changes in students seven months after a one-hour delay in school start time (SST). Two cohorts of Grade 11 students (N = 227; 60.8% female, age = 17.0 [0.85]) at a residential high school in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire assessing sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, depression, anxiety, stress, and subjective well-being in 2017 and 2018, respectively. One of the cohorts was reassessed seven months after the implementation of a delay in SST, from 7:30am to 8:30am (n = 83, 65.1% female). School-level data on breakfast consumption, attendance, tardiness, and health clinic visits were collected. Between-group and within-group prospective comparisons suggest that the delay in SST was associated with improved sleep duration, mental health, and life satisfaction. School-level data revealed increased breakfast consumption and decreased unexcused absences, tardiness, and clinic visits.

A group-based transdiagnostic sleep and circadian treatment for major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Sleep and circadian disturbance is highly comorbid with a range of psychological disorders, especially major depressive disorder (MDD). In view of the complexity of sleep and circadian problems in MDD, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a group-based transdiagnostic intervention for sleep and circadian dysfunction (TranS-C) for improving depressive symptoms and sleep and circadian functions. METHOD: One hundred fifty-two adults diagnosed with comorbid MDD and sleep and circadian dysfunctions were randomized into TranS-C group treatment (TranS-C; n = 77) or care as usual (CAU; n = 75) control group. The TranS-C group received six weekly 2-hr group sessions of TranS-C, whereas the CAU group continued to receive usual care. Assessments were at baseline, immediate (Week 7), and 12-week (Week 19) posttreatment. Primary and secondary outcomes included depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, fatigue, quality of life, and functional impairment. RESULTS: The TranS-C group showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms (p < .001, d = 0.84), insomnia severity (p < .001, d = 0.77), sleep disturbances (p < .001, d = 1.15), sleep-related impairment (p < .001, d = 1.22), fatigue (p < .001, d = 1.06), anxiety symptoms (p = .004, d = 0.67), quality of life (p < .001, d = 0.71), and sleep diary-derived parameters (ps < .05, d = 0.12-0.77) relative to the CAU group at immediate posttreatment. These treatment gains remained significant at 12-week follow-up. Significant improvement in functional impairment was also noted at 12-week follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: TranS-C was efficacious and acceptable in alleviating depressive symptoms and sleep and circadian disruptions in adults with MDD. The group format appears to be a low-cost, widely disseminable option to deliver TranS-C. Further research on TranS-C to examine its benefits on other psychiatric disorders is warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Religious coping, posttraumatic stress, psychological distress, and posttraumatic growth among female survivors four years after Hurricane Katrina.

Positive and negative religious coping strategies and their relation with posttraumatic stress (PTS), psychological distress, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) were examined in the context of Hurricane Katrina. Positive religious coping was hypothesized to be associated with PTG, whereas negative religious coping was hypothesized to be associated with PTS and psychological distress. Low-income mothers (N = 386, mean age = 25.4 years, SD = 4.43) were surveyed before, and 1 and 4 years after the storm. Results from structural regression modeling indicated that negative religious coping was associated with psychological distress, but not PTS. Positive religious coping was associated with PTG. Further analysis indicated significant indirect effects of pre- and postdisaster religiousness on postdisaster PTG through positive religious coping. Findings underscore the positive and negative effect of religious variables in the context of a natural disaster.

Revisiting the factor structure of the insomnia severity index among survivors of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan.

OBJECTIVE: The insomnia severity index (ISI) is often used as a screening tool used with its recommended clinical cutoff scores. However, this practice presumes a single-factor structure, which has received little theoretical or empirical support. This study examined the factor structure of the ISI with the aim to validate its clinical application in postdisaster contexts. METHOD: One hundred sixty-eight Filipino adult survivors of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan completed two waves of questionnaires that were 7 months apart. Confirmatory factor analyses were first conducted to compare models with different factor structures, followed by a test of longitudinal measurement invariance. The longitudinal interrelations among factors of the ISI as well as between insomnia and symptoms of psychological distress were then examined with path analysis. RESULTS: Results supported a two-factor model, composed of severity and impact of insomnia, which achieved strong longitudinal invariance. The change in impact of insomnia at T2 was predicted by severity of insomnia at T1. Impact of insomnia was significantly associated with symptoms of stress but not depression and anxiety. CONCLUSION: We preliminarily propose a model in which the impact of insomnia mediates the influence of severity of insomnia on subsequent stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Indirect Effect of Sleep on the Association Between Protracted Social Stressors and Psychological Distress Among Hong Kong Young People.

PURPOSE: Hong Kong youth and young adults experienced unprecedented stress amid social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have examined how these stressors were related to psychological distress among youth and young adults. This study assessed how psychological distress is associated with stress from social unrest, financial circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether poor sleep quality may explain these associations. METHODS: Participants of a representative phone survey included 1,501 Hong Kong youth and young adults (Mage = 26.1 (4.0); 48.2% female). We examined the associations between psychological distress and three types of stress (social unrest, financial, and COVID-19 stress), and the indirect effect of poor sleep. RESULTS: Eleven point nine percent, 4.1%, and 9.7% of respondents reported feeling very seriously distressed by social unrest, financial circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. All three forms of stress were associated with poor sleep. The indirect effects of poor sleep on the association between all three forms of stress and psychological distress were identified. Moderated indirect effect analysis indicated that being female intensified the effect of COVID-19-related stress on psychological distress and that younger female youth and older male youth were more vulnerable to financial stress and social unrest stress (vs. older female youth and younger male youth). DISCUSSION: Sleep may be one mechanism that accounts for the association between psychological distress and protracted stressors among Hong Kong youth and young adults. These results suggest the importance of prioritizing sleep improvement in mental health interventions during times of societal change.

Whatever will bore, will bore: The mere anticipation of boredom exacerbates its occurrence in lectures.

BACKGROUND: Academic boredom is ubiquitous, and it leads to a range of adverse learning outcomes. Given that students often make estimates of how boring lectures are, does anticipating a lecture to be boring shape their actual experience of boredom? AIMS: The current research investigated whether anticipated boredom intensifies subsequent boredom felt in lectures. SAMPLES: We recruited undergraduate students to participate in three studies. METHODS: Study 1 (N = 121) and study 2 (N = 130) were conducted in natural university lecture environments. We found that students who anticipated a lecture to bore them more subsequently felt more bored by it. In study 3 (N = 92), we experimentally manipulated anticipated boredom before participants watched a lecture video. We found that those who were led to anticipate higher levels of boredom felt more bored by the video. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Results converged to indicate that the mere expectation that a lecture will be boring may be sufficient to exacerbate its subsequent occurrence. We discuss these findings in the contexts of affective forecasting and education.

Be Still and You Will Know: A Mixed-Method Study on Solitude and Consideration of Future Consequences Among Youth in Rehabilitation.

Although solitude is found to be undesirable to many, systematic practice of it can yield positive psychological outcomes. This mixed-method study explored the process and influence of solitude as a behavioral intervention among youths in a therapeutic community in Hong Kong. Qualitative interviews with 43 youths (67.4% male, mean age = 18.3) revealed that solitude facilitated growth in their sense of personal responsibility, increased perspective-taking, increased respect for rules, change in life attitudes, and growth in consideration of future consequences. A two-wave prospective study (n = 79, 82.3% male, mean age = 17.4) further demonstrated perceived meaningfulness in solitude predicted an increase in consideration of future consequences, but not in other types of behavioral intervention. This study preliminarily demonstrated solitude has beneficial outcomes among high-risk youths, and meaning-making can facilitate this relationship.

Evaluating the effectiveness of concurrent sessions and counselors' attention allocation in online counseling.

OBJECTIVE: With its anonymity and accessibility, text-based online counseling has shown great potential in reaching people with mental health needs. One strategy adopted to meet the service gap is concurrent counseling, that is, each counselor attending to more than one client at a time. To date, there is no reported evidence supporting its rationality and effectiveness. This study investigated the potential opportunities, effectiveness, and caveats in concurrent service delivery and identified the optimal cutoff number of concurrent sessions while maintaining the quality of service at or above a set threshold. METHOD: We analyzed the transcript of 54,716 online counseling sessions from Open Up, a free, 24/7 text-based counseling service, to develop an attention score that measures the attention allocation of counselors and examined the impact of the counselor's attention allocation on client satisfaction and service outcomes. RESULTS: On average, compared to nonconcurrent sessions, concurrent sessions were longer, more likely to end prematurely, and had lower client satisfaction. We also identified an optimal attention score of approximately 0.4 (out of 1.0, which denotes full attention), which translates to two to three concurrent sessions. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides empirical evidence for the feasibility of conducting multiple text-based sessions concurrently without compromising service quality and client experience. Our method of measuring the counselor attention allocation offers a way to systematically assess and evaluate concurrent sessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Stories We Tell Influence the Support We Receive: Examining the Reception of Support-Seeking Messages on Reddit.

Although social support facilitates coping and recovering from stressful life events, people do not always get the support that they need. Prior research suggests that the way one talks about stressful events to others may influence the support they receive. Given that people are increasingly relying on online communities for social support, this study adopted a person-centered approach (latent profile analysis) to examine how narrative variables related to the motivational themes, emotional content, and organizational structure of randomly sampled support-seeking messages (N = 495) posted on Reddit (r/Anxiety and r/Depression) influenced the quantity (number of comments and post score) and quality (type of support in comments) of support that they received. We identified five distinct narrative profiles of support-seeking posts, which in turn differentially predicted the quality, but not quantity, of social support people received. While commenters provided high levels of emotional support to all forms of posts, we found that coherence was an important determinant of esteem support. A combination of coherence, as well as agency and affective tone, were important determinants of instrumental, informational, and network support. The ways in which one talks about their problems influence the way others support them.

Developing and validating a parser-based suicidality detection model in text-based mental health services.

BACKGROUND: Advances in text-mining can potentially aid online text-based mental health services in detecting suicidality. However, false positive remains a challenge. METHODS: Data of a free 24/7 online text-based counseling service in Hong Kong were used to develop a novel parser-based algorithm (PBSD) to detect suicidal ideation while minimizing false alarms. Sessions containing keywords related to suicidality were extracted (N = 1267). PBSD first applies a sentence parser to work out the grammatical structure of each sentence, including subject, object, dependent and modifier. Then a set of syntax rules were applied to judge if a flagged sentence is a true or false positive. Half of the sessions were randomly selected to train PBSD, the remaining were used as the test set. A standard keywords matching model was adopted as the baseline comparison. Accuracy and recall were reported to demonstrate models' performance. RESULTS: Of the 1267 sessions, 585 (46.2 %) were false alarms. The false alarms were categorized into four types: negation-induced false alarms (NIFA; 14 %), subject-induced false alarms (SIFA; 19 %), tense-induced false alarms (TIFA; 30 %), and other types of false alarms (OTFA; 37 %). PBSD significantly outperforms the baseline keywords matching model on accuracy (0.68 vs 0.53, 28.3 %). It successfully amended 36.8 % (105/297) lexicon matching-caused false alarms. The reduction on recall was marginal (1 vs 0.96, 4 %). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed model significantly improves the use of lexicon-based method by reducing false alarms and improving the accuracy of suicidality detection. It can potentially reduce unnecessary panic and distraction caused by false alarms among frontline service-providers.