As our society evolves and as our families adapt to the rapid changes around them, it is critical for policymakers to continuously reassess policies, identify and address needs, leverage on opportunities, and prepare for the future.
The MSF Social and Family Research Fund (SFRF) was introduced in 2008 to support research which identifies emerging trends and issues, strengthen the evidence base for social and family development policies and improve the Ministry’s forward planning capabilities to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges and opportunities. By providing funding support to researchers, the Ministry aims to promote ground-up research initiatives which can potentially inform and make a difference to Singapore’s social and family landscape.
The MSF Social and Family Research Fund offers two grant categories:
The 15th Grant Call has closed on 1 March 2023.
Applicants may submit the proposal individually or jointly with other Honours year undergraduate students (up to 5 team members per project).
Applicants are to submit research proposals that are relevant to the work of MSF. Proposals with a primary focus on healthcare/medical research will not be funded, as the SFRF is meant to support research with direct relevance to MSF's areas of work. Proposed research are strongly encouraged to fall under the SFRF Topics of Inquiry, although this is optional for undergraduate proposals. Research proposals on MSF's Indicative Areas of Interest within these Topics of Inquiry will be viewed favourably.
15th Grant Call (2022) - Topics of Inquiry and Indicative Areas of Interest
Topic 1: Enabling Families with Risk Factors/Additional Needs
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 2: Building Strong Foundations for Families
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 3: Facilitating Better Outcomes for Low-Income Households
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 4: Early Childhood Education: Support for Children, Families, and Operators
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Successful applicants will:
Stages of funding
Funding terms
The grant should be used exclusively for conducting the research project, including:
The grant does not cover expenses such as:
MSF will fund only expenditures incurred after the signing of the Research Agreement with the successful applicants.
Applicants should secure approval of their research proposals and the endorsement to apply for the grant from their project supervisor at the application stage
Upon successful application, recipients should obtain clearance from the Institution’s Research Ethics Review Board before any funds can be disbursed.
Successful applicants shall not receive any research funding from other agencies. Changes to the research project cannot be made without prior written consent of MSF.
The application for the 15th Grant Call (Undergraduate Category) has closed for 2022. The results will be available approximately 1.5 months after the submission of all the required application documents. MSF reserves the right to cancel an application if the required documents are not submitted by the closing date.
MSF will consider the following factors:
The grant is awarded on a competitive basis and MSF’s decision is final.
Applicants are encouraged to submit research proposals that are relevant to the work of MSF and should refer to the sections on Topics of Inquiry and Indicative Areas of Interest and past projects.
MSF supports SFRF recipients in presenting and publishing your research findings (e.g. in journals, conferences and other channels), subject to the terms stated in the Research Agreement endorsed by both parties.
MSF may also invite SFRF recipients to share research findings at suitable platforms.
For more information or queries, please contact MSF Social and Family Research Fund (SFRF) Secretariat at email MSF_SFRF_Secretariat@msf.gov.sg
Application
I am interested in applying for the SFRF. Are applications accepted throughout the year?
The SFRF is open for application once a year. Any application submitted outside the application period will not be accepted.
Who can apply
I am a final year student with a local university. I am not conducting the research study as part of my thesis or university course requirement. Can I apply for the SFRF?
Yes, MSF will consider your application on a case-by-case basis. Please identify a Faculty Member as your supervisor to endorse and oversee your proposed research.
I am a third year undergraduate student, and would like to apply for SFRF funding to do my thesis, which will only start in my 4th year (Honours Year). Can I do so?
You are encouraged to submit your application in your 4th year when your thesis proposal has been finalised and endorsed by your supervisor.
Funding
Can I start the SFRF project according to the planned start date in my research proposal before MSF has informed me on the outcome of my SFRF application?
You can choose to start your project based on your timeline. However, please note that MSF will only fund approved research expenditures incurred after the Research Agreement is signed.
Click on the following links to scroll to the year of the Grant Call directly
Topic: The Role of Executive Functions on Direct and Indirect
Bullying in College Students: The Moderating Role of Violent Media
Exposure
This research examines the impact of executive function and violent media exposure on school bullying behaviour among college students.
Topic: Stress Profiles Differentially Predict Executive Functions in Older Adults: A Latent Profile Analysis
This research examines how unique stress profiles - emotion-related stressors, health-related stressors, situational-related stressors and social-related stressors - exert differential impacts on executive functions in older adults.
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Topic: Digital Adaption and Educational Support: Challenges of Low-Income Families in Singapore during the COVID-19 Pandemic
This research studies the effects of COVID-19 on low-income families’ digital adaptation. It focuses on the challenges, coping strategies and parenting practices pertaining to how parents support their children in the use of digital technologies for home-based learning.
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Topic: A Qualitative Study on Factors Influencing Early Childhood Educators' (De)Motivation in Singapore
The study aims to explore the factors, at the personal, social, cultural and institutional levels, motivate and demotivate early childhood educators, and how these factors interact with one another to shape the early childhood educator’s decision to stay in or leave the profession. In addition, the study also aims to examine the differences in the motivational and/or de-motivational factors for educators teaching in government-funded childcare centres and large commercial operators.
Topic: Impact of Parent-Child Media Engagement on Mobile Devices on Language Development During Early Childhood
The study aims to investigate the impact of parent-child media engagement on mobile devices on a child’s language development (i.e., receptive vocabulary and phonological awareness) in pre-schoolers. The study also examines potential moderators, i.e., media usage and content—for the relation between parent-child media engagement and language development. Given the paucity of research on the underlying mechanism, the study also examines selective attention as a potential factor that mediates the relation between parent-child media engagement on mobile devices and language development during early childhood.
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Topic: Unravelling the Remedy to the Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Child Outcomes
In a competitive and fast-paced country such as Singapore, many working parents report difficulty achieving work-life reconciliation. Accumulating evidence suggests that conflict between family and work life exerts negative impact on children, as well as working adults themselves. This study aims to examine (i) whether parents’ WFC relates to their pre-school children’s self-regulation and (ii) whether parental characteristics – boundary management practice and trait mindfulness – moderate the WFC-SR link, using multi-source data collected from parent-child-teacher triads.
Topic: Impact of Mothers’ Work and Family Boundaries on Family Dinner Outcomes
This study seeks to investigate predictors of working mothers’ involvement in family dinner. Specifically, this study aims to examine whether working mothers’ work-family boundaries relate to family dinner frequency and mealtime interaction quality. Data show that the involvement of Singapore working mothers in family dinner has declined. This is concerning given research findings on the benefits of family meals, such as heightened family identity and reduced risk of childhood obesity. Knowledge of the antecedents of family meal may help foster these positive outcomes.
Topic: Family Environment as a Contributing Factor to Brain Synchrony in Mother-Child Dyad in response to Social Interactions
The family has long been recognized as having a critical role in children’s development. Development of emotion regulating abilities are also found to be crucial to the child’s success later on in life. Research has shown that dyadic parent-child synchrony early in childhood has a long-lasting impact on the child’s later social abilities. In this study, a multi-level approach is utilized where the contributions of the family environment to the mother and child responses to emotional events are examined. More specifically, Nears-Infrared Spectroscopy will be used to detect brain synchrony in the mother-child dyad when exposed to different emotional situations.
Topic: Are two heads better than one? Determining the relationship between spousal synchrony, relationship quality and resilience in a neurological context
The transition to parenthood is one of the most important, yet stressful, periods for the family. To deal with familial stress, relationship quality between spouses is of utmost importance. This study aims to make use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electrocardiogram readings to uncover features of spousal synchrony, thus clarifying the role of spousal synchrony in contributing to marital satisfaction. Additionally, this study aims to determine if spousal synchrony has a relationship with individual levels of resilience.
Topic: Exploring the Interactions, Tensions and Negotiation Process between Family and State: A Study of Fostering Policies and Foster Families in Singapore
Foster families are unique, as they mimic normative ideals of a ‘family’, by taking a nuclear family form comprising a couple and children, yet they also receive much closer inspection and regulation by the state than ordinarily so. Foster children are identified as a vulnerable population, due to past experience of trauma. Foster care inevitably causes the displacement of children from their natural homes into a new, foreign family environment, which points to its potentially disruptive nature. The study aims to uncover the challenges and risks of foster care to better inform policy and programme development.
Topic: How does Social Network Discourses Affect Mature Workers Understanding of Health and Economic Policies?
Policy literacy is increasingly important, especially amongst the elderly who must now navigate complex policies that has been revised extensively. This study aims to find out whether the various personal networks and connections our senior citizens have formed would influence their policy literacy and what will constitute as social network to them. The study also hopes to find out the potential measures that communities and governments do to assist them, especially “solo-agers” with limited networks to rely on.
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Topic: Understanding the Saving Patterns of Lower-Income Individuals
The objectives of this research are to uncover some of factors that explain the saving behaviour of Singaporeans, especially that of the low-income individuals. While it is intuitive that low income individuals are less able to save, thus have lower savings, there might also be other significant factors that result in their low savings rate, such as their willingness to save. Upon understanding the factors that affect their savings decisions, institutions can act accordingly to encourage saving.
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Topic: Too Young to Get it: Eldercare Arrangement in Family for Young Onset Dementia Patients
The objectives of this research are to explore the different types of eldercare arrangement in family and the various factors that affect the types of arrangement provided for Early Onset Dementia Patients.
Topic: Singaporean Parents’ Perspectives And Experiences On Raising A Child With Autism
This study aims to better understand the insights of parents with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This included their diverse experience ranging from negotiation of identity between the resources provided by government and Voluntary Welfare Organisations, lay public’s perception of ASD and their views on their child’s future prospects.
Topic: The Right to Education: An Inclusive Education for the Deaf in Singapore
The study serves to find out the attitudes and concerns of both parents of typically-developing children and parents of deal children towards inclusive education and the mainstream integration policy in the context of Singapore.
Topic: The Influence of Culture and Familial Values on Subjective Well-being: Comparison between Chinese and Malays in Singapore
This research examines the predictive power of cultural and familial factors on differences in happiness between the two ethnic groups in Singapore (i.e. Chinese and Malays) and explore how different dimensions of cultural and familial indices vary in their effect on subjective well-being.
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Topic: Absence for a Cause? A Study on Pre-school Attendance Rates of Children from Low-income Households
This study aims to better understand the insights of parents with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This would include their diverse experience ranging from negotiation of identity between the resources provided by government and Voluntary Welfare Organisations, lay public’s perception of ASD and their views on their child’s future prospects.
Topic: The Effects of Smartphone Use on Female Adolescents’ Body Concerns
The study seeks to explore the effects of smartphone’s appearance-related content on female adolescents’ body esteem and social appearance anxiety.
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Topic: Motivation and Family Caregivers of Elderly Individuals: Exploring the Relevance of Self-Determination Theory and Filial Piety
To explore how the components of Self-Determination Theory - autonomy, competence and relatedness - could help to alleviate caregiver burden, specifically in the context of caring for elderly individuals.
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Topic: Tapping the Potential of Married Women in Singapore: The Role of Married Women in Supplementing Singapore’s Shrinking Labour Force
To investigate how women spend their time and the corresponding value that Singaporean women place on unpaid work (e.g. household chores, childcare and eldercare) as well as the challenges that prevent them from remaining or returning to paid work or formal production.
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Topic: What is Holding You Back from Giving Birth? An Investigation of the Proximate Factors Affecting the Intention to Give Birth in Singapore
To investigate and provide insights on the proximate factors influencing fertility intentions in Singapore.
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Topic: Singlehood and the Changing Perspectives on Marriage and Childbirth
To examine how various factors could have affected the decisions of Singaporeans on marriage, with a focus on the role of policy.
Topic: From Policy to Praxis: Understanding the Implementation Gap in Flexible Working Arrangements
To explore the factors motivating people to take up flexible working arrangements, so as to provide insights into the low take-up rate.
Topic: Drivers of Family Social Support for the Elderly in Singapore
To explore the role of family structures, contrasting those of elderly with and without children, in enabling and encouraging the provision of instrumental and emotional support for the elderly and the effect on the provision of instrumental and emotional support by families on the psychological and physical well-being of the elderly.
Topic: The Value of Marriage
To examine how singles value marriage using an economics framework, to provide insights into how individuals make choices on whether to marry.
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Topic: Do you know what they are thinking about? On the Improvement of Social Understanding in Pre-schoolers
To find out whether role-play helps in the Theory of Mind development (i.e. the social understanding) of pre-schoolers in Singapore.
Topic: The Impacts of Working Parent(s) on Adolescents: Moderating Effects of Adolescent’s Perception of Working Parent(s) on Family Characteristics-Adolescent’s School Related Outcome Relationship
To test a theoretical model examining the relationship between family characteristics and adolescents’ school related outcomes, and how this relationship may be moderated by adolescents’ perceptions of their working parent(s) in single and dual-income families.
Topic: Messages on Marriage and Family in Singapore’s English Language Mainstream Print Media: A Content Analysis
To understand the problem of Singapore’s marriage and baby gap from the perspective of the media, and the role it plays in influencing the marriage and family decisions of young adults.
Topic: Dinner Table Woes: A Decline of the Family
To use the practice of family mealtimes as a lens through which to view the family, exploring how the idea of the family is sustained and experienced. Mealtimes act as a platform via which the family presents itself to itself and others - constituting and reaffirming the idea of the family. The thesis thus illustrates how the family is not a natural entity, but one configured through a range of symbolisms and social practices which change continuously over time.
Topic: The Social Construction of Fatherhood in Dual-Income Families
To challenge the assumption of minimal paternal involvement in family work by asking how fathers in dual-income household perceive their role through an analysis of the father in the everyday life of the family. It challenges notions of gender division-of-labour to understand the implications of fatherhood today on family-life patterns and family size decisions.
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Topic: The Impact of Gender-role Adherence on Singaporean Men and Women Managers’ Career and Family Outcomes
To gain a better understanding of how gender-based views relating to work and home affect Singaporean managers’ career and family outcomes
Topic: American TV Series and their Effects on Attitudes Towards Marriage: A Cultivation Analysis
To understand the effects of selected popular American television series on the attitudes of local adult females towards marriage. The study will explore the different messages pertaining to marriage and female singlehood, conveyed through such series and assess the attitudes held by heavy and light viewers.
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Topic: Inter-Generational Relationship Differences in Romantic Beliefs of Singaporean Chinese Women
To understand the Asian beliefs on love and marriage; identify the attachment styles of Singaporean Chinese women; and identify generational differences in the above two objectives.
Topic: How the Elderly in Singapore Satisfy their Emotional and Social Needs through Leisure Activities in a Public Space
To examine how senior citizens satisfy their emotional and social needs (in lieu of the family) through leisure activities participation in a public space; and the strategies that they adopt in order to experience graceful ageing.
Topic: Impact of Senior Volunteering on Volunteers and Their Family Members in Singaporean Context
To identify benefits and strains as a result of senior volunteering, as perceived by the senior volunteers and their family members; study the relationship between the socio-demographics and individual capacity characteristics of the senior volunteers and the perceived benefits and strains from volunteering; and the association of the benefits and strains from senior volunteering with family functioning.
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Post-graduates, academics and researchers at recognised universities and affiliated research institutes in Singapore.
Applicants may submit the proposal individually or jointly with other researchers (up to 5 team members per project).
The research project duration should not exceed 3 years.
Applicants are to submit research proposals that are relevant to the work of MSF. Proposals with a primary focus on healthcare/medical research will not be funded, as the SFRF is meant to support research with direct relevance to MSF's areas of work. Proposed research are strongly encouraged to fall under the SFRF Topics of Inquiry. Research proposals on MSF's Indicative Areas of Interest within these Topics of Inquiry will be viewed favourably.
15th Grant Call (2022) - Topics of Inquiry and Indicative Areas of Interest
Topic 1: Enabling Families with Risk Factors/Additional Needs
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 2: Building Strong Foundations for Families
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 3: Facilitating Better Outcomes for Low-Income Households
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Topic 4: Early Childhood Education: Support for Children, Families, and Operators
Indicative Areas of Interest:
Post-graduate students
Successful applicants will:
Stages of funding
Academics and Researchers
Successful applicants will:
Stages of funding
Funding terms
The grant should be used exclusively for conducting the research project, including:
The grant does not cover expenses such as:
MSF will fund only approved expenditures incurred after the signing of the Research Agreement with the successful applicants.
Applicants should secure approval of their research proposals from their project supervisor (for post-graduate students), or acknowledgement by Head of Department (for academics and researchers) before submitting the application.
Upon successful application, recipients should obtain clearance from the Institution’s Research Ethics Review Board before any funds can be disbursed.
Successful applicants shall not receive any research funding from other agencies. Changes to the research project cannot be made without prior written consent of MSF.
MSF will consider the following factors:
The grant is awarded on a competitive basis and reviewed by both MSF and external reviewers. MSF’s decision is final.
Applicants are to submit research proposals that are relevant to the work of MSF and should refer to the sections on Topics of Inquiry and Indicative Areas of Interest and past projects.
MSF supports SFRF recipients in presenting and publishing your research findings (e.g. in journals, conferences and other channels), subject to the terms stated in the Research Agreement endorsed by both parties.
MSF may also invite SFRF recipients to share research findings at suitable platforms.
For more information or queries, please contact MSF Social and Family Research Fund (SFRF) Secretariat at email MSF_SFRF_Secretariat@msf.gov.sg
Application
Can I submit more than one application for each grant cycle?
Yes, each application will be considered on its own merits. MSF will take into account the quality and relevance of the research proposal, including the researcher’s ability to undertake concurrent projects.
I am interested in applying for the SFRF research grant. Are applications accepted throughout the year?
The SFRF is open for application once a year. Any application submitted outside the application period will not be accepted.
Who Can Apply
Am I eligible to apply for the SFRF research grant if I am a researcher from a local polytechnic or a local hospital?
The grant is currently open to researchers from local universities and affiliated research institutes. You may submit your proposal, which will be assessed on its own merits.
I am a previous SFRF grant recipient, who is interested to conduct further study of the same SFRF project, can I apply for the funding again?
Yes, we welcome you to apply.
Am I able to submit a joint application with researchers from other institutions/organisations for the SFRF research grant?
Yes, we welcome you and your team to apply. The Lead Member of the project team will have to be from a local university or its affiliated research institutes.
Funding
Can I apply for higher quantum of SFRF research grant (e.g. for longitudinal study) in my application?
MSF will consider your request for support of a higher quantum of SFRF research grant on a case-by-case basis.
Can I start the SFRF project according to the planned start date in my research proposal before MSF has informed me on the outcome of my SFRF application?
You can choose to start your project based on your timeline. However, please note that MSF will only fund approved research expenditures incurred after the Research Agreement is signed.
Data Sharing
Can my Research Assistant (RA) use the research findings of the SFRF funded research for his/her thesis project?
Yes, please indicate your request in the SFRF application form. Do inform MSF in advance via email before you disclose any data or information from the SFRF-funded project to your RA for his/her thesis project.
Click on the following links to scroll to the year of the Grant Call directly
Topic:Disparities in Trends in Diet Quality Among Singaporean Adults: 2006 to 2016
The purpose of this study is to investigate socioeconomic disparities in trends in diet quality and the impact of low diet quality on health and economic outcomes between 2006 and 2016 among Singaporean adults.
Topic:Understanding the Impact of Residential Relocation on Rental Flat Residents
Project summary to be confirmed upon research ethics clearance.
Topic:Typologies of Support Exchanges with Social Networks and Maternal Wellbeing in Low-Income Working Mothers with Young Children
Project summary to be confirmed upon research ethics clearance.
Topic: Including Preschool Children with Developmental Needs: How Attitude, Perceived School Support and Self-Efficacy of Singapore Teachers Influence Their Use of Inclusive Classroom Practices
Project summary to be confirmed upon research ethics clearance
Topic: The Impact of Parenting Styles and Practices on Children’s Self-regulation and Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Investigation
The study aims to generate knowledge on the impact of parenting styles and practices on children's self-regulating behaviours and subjective well-being, that will improve local parenting in relation to children's development.
Topic: Factors influencing help-seeking behaviours among low income group mothers: A mixed methods study
The purpose of the study is to explore maternal experiences, expectations, needs and the factors influencing help-seeking behaviours of the low-income mothers in the postpartum period.
Topic: An Investigation into the Perceptions and Attitudes of the Malay/Muslim Community towards Child Fostering
The project investigates the socio-cultural reasons which may inhibit eligible Malay/Muslim families from registering with the Fostering Scheme that comes under the auspices of the Ministry of Social and Family Development. The Scheme aims to provide an alternative care arrangement for children who are below 18 years of age and in need of a safe, stable and nurturing home. These vulnerable young individuals are placed in foster care because they lack alternative kinship care arrangements.
Topic: Parental Support for Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Achievement of Work-Life Balance in Adulthood
Work-life harmony is a key issue facing families. This study explores the impact of parental practices on children's ability to achieve balance between work and family formation in adulthood. Research suggests that parental support for romantic relationships in adolescence has significant short-term effects on relationship quality and emotional health, but the long term effects in adulthood are unclear. The study investigates five outcomes: a) likelihood and quality of adolescent relationships, b) marriage and relationship formation in adulthood, c) higher educational attainment, d) emotional closeness of relationship with parents in adulthood, and e) emotional wellbeing in adolescence and adulthood.
Topic: Understanding and Improving Job Search Skills Among Mid-Career Workers from Families of Lower-Socioeconomic Status
This project investigates (1) when and why skilled mid-career employees in Singapore fail to leverage job opportunities, particularly those coming from families or backgrounds of lower-socioeconomic status, and (2) how skilled mid-career employees in Singapore can leverage job opportunities more effectively.
Topic: The Social Capital of Low-Income, Single-Parent Families in Singapore: Defining, Measuring and Operationalising Family Social Capital
The overall family well-being of a low-income, single-parent family is compounded by the intersection of both their low-income and their single-parent statuses. This study hence proposes to operationally define and measure the social network of supportive relationships among low-income, single-parent families with adolescents, in the socio-cultural and political context of family-well-being in Singapore.
Topic: Social Networks of Young Persons with Disabilities in Singapore – Mobilising Networks to Navigate Transitions
A young person transitions from childhood to young adulthood,gaining independence, leaving education and entering the workforce. For young people with disabilities (YPWD), however, this transition can be challenging. Some remain dependent on caregivers to meet their daily needs, while many require additional supports to navigate this phase. Social networks – formal and informal actors – are crucial in increasing the inclusion of YPWD in society and employment. This study seeks to gain an in-depth understanding of the social networks of YPWD and how these networks help them to meet their social, emotional, financial, physical and other needs.
Topic: Conflict Between Work and Family Lives Among Workers of Lower-Socioeconomic Status
This study investigates how conflict between work and family lives affects skilled employees in Singapore coming from families of lower socioeconomic status (SES). The findings will help improve work-family balance of Singaporean workers coming from lower-SES backgrounds, improve fairness and efficiency of Singaporean organizations, and help harmonizing work and family as central but often competing domains of life in the Singaporean society.
Topic: The Influence of Adolescent Temperament/Personality and Parenting on Adolescent Psychosocial Outcomes
This research aims to investigate individual and environmental factors that contribute to an adolescent’s psychological outcomes (mental health and emotional regulation), factors that influence parents’ parenting behaviours, developmental trajectories of adolescent psychological outcomes, and predictors of the trajectories.
Topic: “Stay-at-home” Fathers and their Families: What Lessons for Policymakers?
The primary objective in this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of fathers who are full-time caregivers and the impact this has had on them and their families.
Topic: Three-Level Digital Divide and Digital Inclusion of Children from Single-Parent and Two-Parent Households
This proposed study seeks to provide an in-depth analysis on children from different family types, and how their family arrangements, parents’ mediation (or lack thereof) and social networks affect their use of ICTs for learning, living and leisure.
Topic: Predictors and Consequences of Work-family Experiences: Study of Working Caregivers of Older Adults
This study aims to examine work-, family-, and health-related consequences of work-family experiences and individual characteristics and organizational factors that can optimize work family experiences and outcomes.
Topic: A Mixed Method Study on First-time Fathers After the Birth of Their Child: Experiences and Predictors of Paternal Involvement
This study explores paternal experiences, expectations, needs and the factors influencing paternal involvement in the postpartum period.
Topic: Generativity: Appreciation and Measurement among Elderly Singaporeans (GAMES)
This two-phase project aims to provide an empirical understanding of generativity and enable its measurement among elderly Singaporeans.
Topic: How Parenting Factors and Child Educational Environment Influence Children’s Online Risk-taking Behaviours: A Mixed Method Assessment
The study aims to examine how parental factors (i.e., parental mediation of children’s digital media use, parental literacy of digital media, and general parenting styles) influence children’s online risk-taking perception and behaviour.
Topic: The Impact of Media Consumption on the Development of Attentional Control and Emotional Regulation during Early Childhood
The primary objective of this research is to advance our understanding of the impact of heavy media consumption via mobile devices on the development of attentional control and emotional regulation during early childhood.
Topic: An Insight into the Family Quality of Life of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in Singapore
This study utilizes a mix method approach, which encompasses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the quality of life of families with at least one adult-child with special needs in Singapore.
Topic: The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree: An Experimental Study on Intergenerational Transmission of Preferences
This field experiment study aims to investigate the effects of parental influence on children’s economic preferences, particularly the dimensions on social preference and time preference.
Topic: A Study on Parents as Mediators of Academic Stress
This study aims to examine the impact of academic stress on Singapore families, particularly focusing on the parents’ expectations and aspirations for their children and how it affects family bonding and familial relations.
Topic: Job Connectedness and Work-Family Integration
This study aims to address gaps in literature by examining the psychological processes behind staying connected to work matters through communication technologies.
Topic: An Exploratory Study on Singaporean Divorcees from Transnational Marriages
A qualitative study on how Singaporean divorcees from transnational marriages acquire the post-divorce support and how existing state policies and services shape the well-being of Singaporean divorcees and their families after the divorce.
Topic: The Trait and State Emotion Regulation of Adolescents and the Influence of Parent-Adolescent Communication and Parents’ Emotional Expressivity
The study aims to examine the trait and state emotion regulation of local adolescents, ascertain the characteristics of mother-adolescent, father-adolescent dyad communication, maternal and paternal emotional expressivity and their influence on adolescents’ emotion regulation.
Topic: Adoption Disclosure and Psychological Well-Being of Adoptees
The study aims to examine the disclosure process and find out the effect of disclosure on adoptive family well-being including the child’s outcome; to find out the societal and familial factors that relate to adoption disclosure and to family and child well-being; to explore the strategies parents take in the adoption disclosure process and how they manage the disclosure process.
Topic: On the Improvement of Executive Function in Pre-schoolers from Low-Income Families
The study aims to examine if a specially designed intervention programme would help in promoting the development of executive function in pre-schoolers from low-income families. Executive function refers to the processes required for the conscious control of thought, emotion and action. It relates to decision making, problem solving, self-regulation and behavioural control. The early development of executive function has been linked to school readiness and academic achievement.
Topic: Parental Perceptions and Mediation of Computer Gaming in Singapore
The study aims to explore parental perception and mediation strategies adopted with regard to the computer gaming activities of their children in Secondary Schools (aged 12 to 16 years). As Internet penetration in Singapore has reached saturation, and computer gaming is more avidly adopted by young people as a recreational pastime, parents find themselves grappling with this new medium and its impact on their children. By better understanding parental perceptions of computer gaming, and their efforts in mediating their children's involvement in this increasingly popular activity, more effective strategies can be proposed for educating both children and parents in incorporating computer gaming into their domestic media landscape in a healthier fashion.
Topic: Case Control of Asian Adolescents Who Attempted Suicide: Their Temperament, Parenting Experienced, Mental Disorders, Life Stressors and Help Seeking Behaviour
The study aims to identify the factors related to attempted suicides by adolescents (aged 13 to 19 years old). The study would like to examine the temperament of the adolescents, the type of parenting experienced by the adolescents, the presence of mental disorders, life stressors and help-seeking behaviour in adolescents who have attempted suicides.
Topic: The Unmarried Crisis: The Rising Trend of Singlehood Among Chinese Singaporeans
The study aims to gain a sense of how gender perceptions and career views influence the choices and decisions on marriage and to fully understand the relationships between the single and the family of origin.
Topic: Attribution for Maternal Stress in Children with Different Special Needs
The study aims to investigate the attribution variables for maternal stress in children aged 0 to 12 years with special needs. It will examine possible internal and external factors such as children with different special needs, mothers’ socio demographic information, and mothers’ perception of availability of existing family and social support.
Topic: Childcare Staff’s and Parents’ Beliefs about Quality Care for Infants and Toddlers in Centre-based Programs in Singapore
The study aims to examine (i) Perceptions of childcare staff on quality care in terms of their interactions and practices with infants and toddlers in centre-based programmes in Singapore; (ii) Perceptions of childcare staff on the training which they had undergone to prepare them for their interactions and practices with infants; and (iii) Observed nature of childcare staff’s interactions and practices.
Topic: The Influence of Child Temperament, Parenting, and Family Context on Psychological Adaptation during Middle Childhood
The study aims to outline a programme of research that focuses on the psychological development of children aged seven to 10 years, in the context of the family. The parents of children in this age range have huge influences on their children’s development through the manner in which they interact with one another. A major theme of the research is to delineate the factors responsible for the children’s ability to adapt well to changes, to build up psychological resilience, and to function successfully at home and in school.
Topic: Not Just Babysitting: Case Studies of Caregiver-Child Interactions in Infant Care Centres in Singapore
The study aims to investigate the best practices of infant-toddler child care centres in Singapore, with regard to designing and implementing their programmes, with a focus on examining the interactions between child and caregiver, the environment set up that supports early learning and development and professional development of the edu-carers.
Topic: Impact of Older Adults’ Activity Patterns on the Functioning of Later-life Family
The study aims to explore the range of meaningful activities that older adults are engaged in; to classify their activity patterns; to examine factors associated with these activity patterns; and to investigate the impact of activity patterns on older adults’ well-being and their family functioning. Family functioning will be assessed in four dimensions of family life which includes family adaptability, cohesion, satisfaction with family life, and family leisure life.
Topic: Longitudinal Study of Beyond Parental Control (BPC) cases: Factors Associated with Possible Variation of Court Orders
The study aims to study the Beyond Parental Control (BPC) cases longitudinally over a period of two years to identify factors associated with variation of initial court orders. The researchers seek to study the BPC cases that have either been sent to an approved home or placed under closed statutory supervision, as these are the two most common types of court orders for BPC cases.
Topic: A Study of the Impact of Caring for Stroke Survivors on Family Structure and the Mental Health of Caregivers
The study aims to examine the factors that influence caregiving burden, quality of life and mental health of caregivers; and to examine the adequacy of existing intervention programmes within the community for stroke caregivers.