Social support and mental well-being : the period after 2019 anti-government social unrest in Hong Kong

Abstract

The 2019 anti-government social unrest in Hong Kong brought forth significant mental health sequelae to Hong Kong citizens. This study aimed to understand the social unrest with the framework of disaster mental health. Under the social identity model of collective resilisence, collective behaviours were mobilized on the basis of a shared social identity. In the context of social unrest, a new shared social identity among the anti-government protestors - “sau zuk” (“手足”) emerged, and various forms of social support within the group were mobilized. In view of the novelty of the shared identity, “anti-government protestors” (“sau juk”), the current study used a cross-sectional and longitudinal design to understand (a) the social support within the new shared identity among anti-government protestors, (b) the possible compensatory effect when other sources of social support were absent or barely present, (c) the overarching mechanism behind their social support and its association with mental well-being. Here we identified identity fusion with the newly emerged identity of “anti-government protestors” and that emotional support received from other protestors contributed significantly to the perception of social support at a later time. The compensatory effect of protestors’ support we expected was not identified. Instead, our results supported the protective role of family on an individual’s well-being. Our findings supported neither the main theories in social support mobilization (i.e., main effect model and stress buffer model) nor the social support deterioration stage, suggesting the presence of other unexplored mediating factors and / or moderating factors between social support and well-being in the context of social unrest. Lastly, the results drew our attention to the alarmingly high mental health risk among Hong Kong citizens.