MindJam: a performing arts intervention for youths in Hong Kong

Abstract

Anecdotal and observational evidence suggests that Buddhist schools are often stigmatized as ‘band 3’ or low-quality schools in Hong Kong. While there are numerous school-based interventions, the number of these programs made available to Buddhist schools is disproportionately low. In light of the potential negative psychological wellbeing and adversity encountered by youths attending Buddhist schools, a performing arts intervention program, MindJam, was specifically designed to target these youths in an attempt to improve their psychosocial wellbeing. For a period of twelve consecutive months, 25 youths, aged 13 to 18 years of age, participated in the MindJam program, which consisted of weekly rehearsals in dancing, singing, and beat-boxing, meditation sessions, and several public performances. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of MindJam in enhancing the psychosocial wellbeing among MindJam participants. A mixed-method approach combining qualitative in-depth interviews (n=15) and quantitative surveys (n= 25) were used as data collection methods. Comparison groups consisted of 56 youths who did not participate in MindJam. The quantitative outcomes were measured with the Self Efficacy Scale, the General Health Questionnaire-12, the Mindfulness Scale, and the Daily Spiritual Scale, and multilevel analysis was used for data analysis. Results showed that as a performing arts intervention, MindJam was relatively effective in fostering positive psychosocial growth among Hong Kong youths. Implications for social work practice and positive youth development interventions are discussed. In particular, this paper advocates for the need to shift in approach for how youth issues are addressed in Hong Kong.