Assistant Professor
- ST540
- +852 2766 4840
- meiqi.xin@polyu.edu.hk
ORCID ID
SCOPUS ID
Google ScholarBiography
Dr Meiqi XIN (Maggie) obtained her bachelor’s degree in preventive medicine from Sun Yat-Sen University. She further received PhD and postdoctoral training in public health at the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
As a behavioural scientist, Prof. Xin is dedicated to leveraging theoretical and methodological advancements in behavioural medicine to design effective, scalable interventions that motivate and empower vulnerable populations to proactively engage in disease prevention and management. She has a particular interest in healthy ageing. Her research aims to promote health behaviours (e.g., active lifestyles, uptake of preventive care, help-seeking) among older adults and their caregivers in community settings, with the goal of enhancing their capacity for self-management and maintaining independence in daily life.
Specifically, her work focuses on integrating advanced behaviour change techniques with digital technologies to facilitate motivational and volitional processes underlying health behaviour initiation and maintenance. In a GRF-funded RCT, she aims to develop a fully automated chatbot intervention that integrates narrative persuasion and implementation intentions to promote influenza vaccination behaviours among community-dwelling older adults. In another HMRF-funded study, she aims to develop a digital version of WHO Self-Help Plus, augmented with engagement-facilitation strategies, to support family caregivers of older adults in incorporating ACT-based stress management skills in everyday life.
In addition to intervention research, she conducts epidemiological studies on the psychosocial mechanisms underlying behavioural and mental health outcomes. Her work focuses on examining how lay people mentally represent and respond to health threats within community contexts. In an HMRF-funded cohort study, she aims to investigate the illness perceptions and professional help-seeking behaviours for insomnia among over 1000 community-dwelling older adults with chronic insomnia symptoms and their families.
Education and Academic Qualifications
- Bachelor of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University
- Doctor of Philosophy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Research Interests
Research Output
- Luo, S., Huang, S., Lee, E. W., Jiang, H., Xie, L., Ye, X., Lee, H. H., Hui, K. H., Mo, P. K. *, & Xin, M. * (corresponding) (2026). Spillover between Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccination Behaviors across Pandemic Phases and Implications for General Vaccine Hesitancy. npj Vaccines, 11(1), 70. [IF= 6.6, 30/195 (Q1) in Medicine, Research & Experimental]
- Ma, H., Lee, E. W., Xie, L., Lee, H. H., Hui, K. H., Mo, P. K. *, & Xin, M. * (corresponding) (2024). Examining the Roles of Social Media Information Exposure and Seeking on COVID-19 Vaccination through the SOR Model: A Two-wave Panel in Hong Kong. Computers in Human Behavior, 108243. [IF= 9.9, 3/89 (Q1) in Psychology, Experimental, 8/147 in Psychology, Multidisciplinary]
- Xin, M., Chan, V. W., Kong, A. P., Lau, J. T., Cameron, L. D., Mak, W. W., & Mo, P. K. * (2023). Using the common-sense model to explicate the role of illness representation in self-care behaviours and anxiety symptoms among patients with Type 2 diabetes. Patient Education and Counseling, 107, 107581. [IF=3.5, 19/112 (Q1) in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary]
- Xin, M., Coulson, N. S., Jiang, C. L., Sillence, E., Chidgey A., Kwan, N. N. M., Mak, W. W. S., Goggins, W., & Lau, J. T. F., Mo, P. K. H. * (2021). Web-based behavioral intervention utilizing narrative persuasion for HIV prevention among Chinese men who have sex with men (HeHe Talks Project): Intervention development. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(9), e22312. [IF=7.4, 3/105 (Q1) in Health Care Sciences & Services]
- Xin, M., Luo, S., She, R., Yu, Y., Li, L., Wang, S., ... & Lau, J. T. F. * (2020). Negative cognitive and psychological correlates of mandatory quarantine during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China. American Psychologist, 75(5), 607. [IF=16.4, 5/147 (Q1) in Psychology, Multidisciplinary]
- Xin, M., Lau, J. T. F. *, & Lau M. (2022). Multi-dimensional factors of participation in a population-wide mass COVID-19 testing program among Hong Kong adults: a population-based randomized survey. Social Science & Medicine, 294, 114692. [IF=5.4, 2/45 (Q1) in Social Sciences, Biomedical]
- Xin, M., Mo, P. K. H., Li, J., Liu, X., Jiang, H., Chen, Y., Ma, L., & Lau, J. T. F. * (2022). Smartphone non-users experience disproportionately higher psychological distress than their counterparts: mediations via psychosocial resources in a large sample of college students in China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 296, 41-48. [IF=6.6, 23/212 (Q1) in Clinical Neurology]
- * denotes the corresponding author.
- Mo, P. K. H., Xin, M. (co-first), & Lau J. T. F. * (2019). Testing the vulnerability and scar model of the relationship between self-concept, social support and anxiety symptoms among children of HIV-infected parents in China: A 3-year longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 259, 441-450. [IF=6.6, 23/212 (Q1) in Clinical Neurology]
