Nicole W.T. Cheung’s main research interests lie in the sociology of deviance, the sociology of youth and addiction. First, her research on substance abuse is closely related to the normalisation of adolescent recreational drug use within non-Western cultural contexts. The normalisation paradigm introduces a ground-breaking, risk society perspective on social change – a prominent postmodern paradigm in sociology that has seldom been applied to the drug and deviance fields – to conceptualise youthful drug abuse. Second, Cheung has extended her research focus on substance abuse to gambling disorder. With the goal of bridging the literatures on gambling and the sociology of deviance, she has conducted two large-scale studies of adolescent gambling (with a student sample across 83 high schools) and gender disparities in gambling among married couples (with a community sample of 1,620 couples) in Hong Kong. Both studies yield significant contributions to the very limited body of gambling research in the sociology field. Third, she has also examined migration and adolescent victimisation/health in the context of young rural-to-urban migrants’risk behaviour and mental health in contemporary China. Victimisation as a form of social stress may contribute to the suboptimal mental well-being of rural migrant adolescents in urban China, but such undesirable effects may be buffered by social support ties forged in receiving cities and rural homes. Fourth, Cheung’s scholarship focus on the transition from school to work responds to a wider agenda on youth development in the increasingly precarious transition to adulthood. The research impact of this focus lies in going beyond the conventional structuralist orientation to locate the often overlooked social-psychological mechanisms (work motivation, alignment of occupational-educational aims and plans, career-related parental support and exposure to social stressors) that mediate the structural influence on the decisions made by youth under stress with the labour market outcomes of their plans.
- Sociology of crime and deviance
- Youth problem
- Addictive behaviors
- Victimology
- Migration and adolescent health
| Type | Year | Details | URL to the publication |
| Journal | 2025 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Wei Yao. “Assessing the Victim–Perpetrator Overlap in Adolescent Dating Violence in China: A Latent Class Analysis.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 40 (23-24): 5496-5527. | |
| Journal | 2024 | Tong, Yuying, Yuting Hu and Nicole W.T. Cheung. “Life stage of boarding at school and middle school student victimization in rural China.” Chinese Sociological Review 56(5): 497-526. | |
| Journal | 2023 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Hua Zhong. “Assessing the victim-offender overlap among rural adolescents in rural China.” Crime and Delinquency 69(10): 1811-1842. | |
| Journal | 2022 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Hua Zhong. “Deviant versus nondeviant routines, social guardianship and adolescent victimization in the rural context of China.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 37(7-8): 4527-4557. | |
| Journal | 2022 | Man, Pui K. and Nicole W.T. Cheung. “Do gender norms matter? General strain theory and a gendered analysis of gambling disorder among Chinese married couples.” Journal of Gambling Studies 38: 123-151. | |
| Journal | 2020 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Gender, victimization and adolescent psychological health in the context of migration: Evidence from China.” Youth & Society 52(1): 99-118. | |
| Journal | 2019 | Cheung, Yuet W. and Nicole W.T. Cheung. “Adolescent drug abuse in Hong Kong: Prevalence, psychosocial correlates, and prevention.” Journal of Adolescent Health 64(6): 28-33. | |
| Journal | 2018 | Cheung, Yuet W. and Nicole W.T. Cheung. Psychoactive Drug Abuse in Hong Kong: Drug Use and Life Satisfaction. Singapore: Springer. | |
| Journal | 2018 | Chan, Elda M.L., Nicole W.T. Cheung, Daphne N.Y. Yeung, Annie F.P. Kwok and Ryan H.Y. Wong. “An evaluation study of the RESTART program — Short-term residential treatment for addiction.” International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 16: 1357-1372. | |
| Journal | 2018 | Luo, Weixiang, Yuying Tong and Nicole W.T. Cheung. “Rural-to-urban migration and adolescent delinquent behaviors: Evidence from Hunan and Guangdong in China.” Eurasian Geography and Economic 59: 246-266. | |
| Journal | 2016 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Social strain, self-control, and juvenile gambling pathology: Evidence from Chinese adolescents.” Youth & Society 48: 77-100. | |
| Journal | 2016 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Defining crime.” Pp. 23-37 in Understanding Criminal Justice in Hong Kong, edited by Eric W.H. Chui and Wing T. Lo. UK: Routledge. | |
| Journal | 2016 | Cheung, Nicole W.T., Yuet W. Cheung and Xi Chen. “Permissive attitude towards drug use, life satisfaction, and continuous drug use among psychoactive drug users in Hong Kong.” East Asian Archives of Psychiatry 26: 60-69. | |
| Journal | 2015 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Social strain, couple dynamics and gender differences in gambling problems: Evidence from Chinese married couples.” Addictive Behaviors 41: 175-184. | |
| Journal | 2014 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Social stress, locality of social ties and mental well-being: The case of rural migrant adolescents in urban China.” Health & Place 27: 142-154. | |
| Journal | 2014 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Low self-control and co-occurrence of gambling with substance use and delinquency among Chinese adolescents.” Journal of Gambling Studies 30: 105-124. | |
| Journal | 2013 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Rural-to-urban migrant adolescents in Guangzhou, China: Psychological health, victimization, and local and trans-local ties.” Social Science & Medicine 93: 121-129. | |
| Journal | 2013 | Lee, K.W. Kent, Nicole W.T. Cheung, and Sara H. Zhong. “Victimization and risk behaviors among girl-child in Hong Kong.” Pp. 265-294 in Women and Girls in Hong Kong: Current Situations and Future Challenges, edited by Susanne Y.P. Choi and Fanny M. Cheung. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. | |
| Journal | 2010 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Yuet W. Cheung. “Strain, self-control, and gender differences in delinquency among Chinese adolescents: Extending general strain theory.” Sociological Perspectives 53: 321-345. | |
| Journal | 2008 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Yuet W. Cheung. 2008. “Self-control, social factors, and delinquency: A test of the general theory of crime among adolescents in Hong Kong.” Journal of Youth & Adolescence 37: 412-430. | |
| Journal | 2006 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. and Yuet W. Cheung.”Is Hong Kong experiencing normalization of adolescent drug use? Some reflections on the normalization thesis.”Substance Use and Misuse 41: 1967-1990. | |
| Book Chapter | 2025 | Cheung, Nicole W.T. “Gender Equality and Adolescent Health in China’s Migration Governance.” Pp. 537-555 in Global Governance and Sustainable Development: Perspectives from China and the Global South, edited by Jin Sun and Hanzhi Yu. Springer Nature |
| Area/ Project Title | Open for |
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| Year | Title of the Grant | Project Title |
| 2025 – 2026 | RGC General Research Fund | Principle Investigator. “In the Name of Romance: Sexual Abuse in Online Dating Perpetrated by Young Adult Men in Urban China” |
| 2023 – 2025 | CUHK Direct Grant | Principal Investigator. “Dating Abuse Victimization among Young Adult Dating-App Users in Urban China: Do Status, Beauty and Adolescent Exposure to Violence Matter?” |
| 2021– 2023 | RGC General Research Fund | Principal Investigator. “Safe Dates Compromised: Understanding the Social and Situated Correlates of Adolescent Dating Aggression in China.” |
| 2016 – 2018 | RGC General Research Fund | Principal Investigator. “How Far Are Left-Behind Adolescents Victimized in Rural China? A Closer Look at the Migration, Situational and Social Correlates of Rural Adolescent Victimization.” |
| 2012 – 2015 | Public Policy Research Fund, Central Policy Unit of HKSAR Government | Principal Investigator. “Transitioning to Post-secondary Education or Work? A Two-Wave Panel Study of Effects of Career Orientation, Parental Alignment and Social Strain on Hong Kong’s Senior High School Students.” |
| 2010 – 2013 | RGC General Research Fund | Principal Investigator. “Social Control, Strain and Couple Dynamics Affecting Gender Disparities in Gambling: A Study of Married Couples in Hong Kong.” |
| 2007 – 2010 | RGC General Research Fund | Principal Investigator. “To Bet or Not to Bet: Structural Disadvantage, Social Capital, Individual Mentality and Adolescent Gambling in Hong Kong.” |
| Project title | Brief description |
| In the Name of Romance: Sexual Abuse in Online Dating Perpetrated by Young Adult Men in Urban China | The high uptake of online dating via dating websites/apps and social networking/media sites has revolutionized modern courtship. In China, as in other countries, many young adults use online dating. While sexual harassment victimization of female online daters has been reported in China, an understanding of the Chinese male perpetrators is sparse. This project elucidates the perpetrator’s perspective by connecting mainstream criminological theories in sociology with theories of dating violence to explain online dating-related sexual abuse among men. |
- SOCI 1002 Approaching Sociology
- SOCI 3204 Sociology of Crime and Deviance
- SOCI 4010 Graduation Thesis I
- SOCI 4020 Graduation Thesis II
- SOCI 5635 Social Problems and Inequalities
- SOCI 6010 Guided Studies I
- SOCI 6020 Guided Studies II
Department
- Department Chair
- Chair, Department Academic Personnel Committee (DAPC)
- Chair, Department Executive Committee
- Director, Centre for Population Research
- Director, Social Governance and Sustainable Development (SGSD) Lab
- Member, Graduate Studies Committee
- Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee
Faculty
- Member, Executive Committee, Faculty of Social Science
- Member, Board of Faculty of Social Science
College
- Member, Personal Growth and College Life Committee, Wu Yee Sun College
- Member, Student Hostels Committee, Wu Yee Sun College
- Fellow, Assembly of Fellows, Wu Yee Sun College
University
- Ad Personam Member, Senate Committee on General Education
- Ad Personam Member, Standing Committee of Senate Committee on General Education
- Member, Management Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS)
- Member, University Senate
- Member, Research Committee, Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers, HK
last updated on 7 August 2026