Social Sciences

This study examined the associations between six dimensions of family strengths and parenting sense of competence (PSOC) among Hong Kong parents of kindergarten children and explored whether these associations differed according to children’s special educational needs (SEN) status. A total of 700 parents and caregivers recruited from local kindergartens completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising the Chinese Family Strength Measure and the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations, hierarchical multiple regression, moderation analyses, and independent-samples t tests. All six family strength dimensions were positively correlated with PSOC. After controlling for demographic variables, the six dimensions collectively explained significant additional variance in PSOC; however, Positive Communication was the only significant unique predictor. SEN status did not significantly moderate the associations between family strength dimensions and PSOC. Group comparisons indicated that families of children with SEN reported lower levels of PSOC and several family strength dimensions than families of children without SEN, although the effect sizes were small. These findings suggest that family strengths, particularly positive communication, may serve as important relational resources for parenting competence across caregiving contexts. The study highlights the potential value of strengths-based and communication-focused family support for Hong Kong parents.

The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is substantially changing archival research methodologies in social sciences. Yet, more structured guidance of methodological protocols informing AI use is needed to mitigate emergent threats to validity, particularly in human rights policy. This article offers a methodological case study, combining retrospective documentation of workflow evolution with descriptive analysis of 417 AI-assisted research sessions within the database supplementing standardized data searches of acid-attack violence for 212 WHO-reporting country cases. Data collection analyzed publicly available digital sources and applied systematic review standards. AI use was slowly streamlined in the last phases of the project. The process of blending AI assistants into the archival research required extensive workflow modifications, including pilot-testing and developing specific research protocols for improved AI use. Protocols include standardizing AI version/model selection and prompts, documenting all sessions, and multi-stage auditing. Benefits included improved data triangulation and more extensive archival searches, particularly in synthesizing non-English sources or when traditional searches faced data scarcity. AI assistants can be a useful supplementary assistant in archival research. Yet, researchers must increasingly explore effective strategies to identify and address methodological concerns, including human-in-the-loop protocols.

Explicit gender stereotypes are shifting toward neutrality, yet how widely a stereotype is endorsed and how consistently it appears across domains within those who endorse it are separable properties of a stereotype climate. The same Romanian adults, parents alongside teachers and school counsellors (N = 121), reported gender-stereotyped beliefs about children’s play and traits in the abstract, together with two applied judgements: gender-differentiated educational expectations and gender suitability of occupations. Stereotyped judgement covaried across all three domains, substantially among parents and moderately among teachers. This cross-domain covariation indexes consistency within respondents rather than a common latent construct, which the confirmatory models did not support. Stereotyping was voiced more strongly as abstract belief than in either applied domain. Explicitly gender-typing occupations was a minority position, yet those who did so held the strongest beliefs, a concentration that direction-cancelling coding rendered undetectable. Because gendered channelling is concentrated rather than diffuse, awareness work is better targeted than universal and better timed before high-stakes transitions such as allocation to high-school tracks. Teachers resembled parents, suggesting professional training does not by itself displace such judgement. Where access is no longer the binding constraint, monitoring that tracks only how prevalent gender bias is will miss what remains coherent in a shrinking minority.