{"id":52713,"date":"2025-07-31T12:35:41","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T04:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/as\/?page_id=52713"},"modified":"2026-01-29T14:18:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:18:47","slug":"r7043","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/as\/research\/psprc\/r7043\/","title":{"rendered":"A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hong Kong's housing shortage and sky-high property prices have forced many \ngrassroots families to live in cramped, poorly equipped subdivided units. To \nexamine the impact of these living conditions on children's development, the \nPublic and Social Policy Research Centre of the School of Arts and Social \nSciences at Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) partnered with the Society \nfor Community Organization (SoCO) to conduct a longitudinal study. The findings \nfrom the first phase reveal that the narrow, overcrowded and noisy environment \nof subdivided units significantly affects children's mental well-being, academic \nperformance and daily life. The survey found that nearly 40% of children living \nin subdivided units feel they lack adequate space for studying, and over 40% \nfeel they lack space for play. These children also display significantly higher \nlevels of depression, anxiety, and stress.
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\nThe three-year mixed-methods study examined how Hong Kong's subdivided housing \naffects child development. In the first phase, from June 2023 to August 2024, \nresearchers conducted surveys with 1,032 Primary 4 to Primary 6 students (from \nboth subdivided and non-subdivided units), cognitive-behavioural experiments \nwith 160 children (80 from subdivided units and 80 from non-subdivided units), \nand in-depth interviews with 54 children.
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\nThe survey found that 39.1% of children living in subdivided units felt they \nlack suitable space for studying at home, and 43.9% felt they lacked space to \nplay\u2014figures significantly higher than those of their peers in non-subdivided \nunits. In addition, 19% reported serious noise problems at home, and 42% \ndescribed severe overcrowding. Interviews revealed that many children had to \nstudy or engage in other activities on their beds or dining tables and often had \nto move or discard study materials due to lack of space. Their opportunities for \nrecreational activities were also extremely limited.
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\nIn terms of mental health and emotional well-being, children who felt they \nlacked adequate space to play exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety and \nstress\u201416%, 9% and 10% higher, respectively\u2014than those who felt they had \nadequate space. They also experienced 40% more emotional issues and 10% more \nbehavioural problems. Similarly, children who reported a lack of study space had \ndepression, anxiety and stress scores 11%, 4.5% and 4.6% higher, respectively, \nthan those of their peers, and their overall life satisfaction was 15% lower.\n
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\nThese findings indicate that cramped living conditions negatively impact \nchildren's emotional stability and behavioural functioning, possibly impairing \ntheir ability to regulate emotions and cope with stress. Many children reported \nfeelings of helplessness, anxiety and irritability due to prolonged confinement \nin small spaces. Some also reported strained parent-child relationships and \nfamily conflicts.
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\nRegarding academic performance, only 53.7% and 54.6% of children who felt they \nlacked study space scored A or B in Chinese and Mathematics, \nrespectively\u2014significantly lower than the 64.6% of those with sufficient space. \nCognitive experiments revealed that perceived spatial constraints negatively \naffected children's language memory and attention. Interestingly, however, \nchildren lacking study space performed better in self-control tests, suggesting \nthey may have developed stronger self-regulation skills in response to their \nchallenging environments.
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\nThe study found that households in subdivided units had significantly lower \nmedian incomes. As a result, many children lacked stable internet access and \ncomputer equipment, hindering their participation in online learning. Most spent \ntheir after-school hours playing electronic games or watching online videos, \nwith limited opportunity for outdoor or diverse extracurricular activities. \nParental support for learning was limited, and digital literacy development was \nlacking. While parents imposed many rules on device usage, they often failed to \nprovide constructive guidance, leading to parent-child conflicts.   \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis Hong Kong's housing shortage and sky-high property prices have forced many grassroots families to live in cramped, poorly equipped subdivided units. To examine the impact of these living conditions on...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"parent":438,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"content_default_2.php","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"yoast_head":"\nA longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis - School of Arts and Social Sciences - Hong Kong Metropolitan University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/as\/research\/psprc\/r7043\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method analysis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A longitudinal study of the impact of adverse housing conditions on the development of children living in subdivided units in Hong Kong: A mixed-method\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hkmu.edu.hk\/as\/research\/psprc\/r7043\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"School of Arts and Social Sciences - 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