• Title/Summary/Keyword: Asian immigrants

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Influences on Smoking and Binge Drinking among Asian Immigrants in California (미국 캘리포니아주에 거주하는 동양인 이민자들의 흡연 및 음주 행동에 영향을 미치는 요인)

  • Kim, Young-Bok;Kim, Young-Doo
    • Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.93-104
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    • 2009
  • Objectives: Although Asian immigrants have lower rates of smoking and binge drinking than other ethnics in the US, Korean Americans have the highest rate of Asian immigrants. This study, therefore, compared with the rates and examined the predictors of smoking and binge drinking by gender and ethnicity among Asian immigrants in California. Methods: In 2001 and 2003, California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were conducted in English and their original languages with Asian immigrants residing in 58 Counties and 3 Cities, California. We performed analysis to find out the differences of smoking and binge drinking rates using the secondary data, CHIS 2001 and 2003. Multiple logistic regression analysis for survey data identified predictors of smoking and binge drinking behaviors by gender and ethnicity. Results: Korean American males (35.4%) and Japanese American females (15.4%) had higher rates of smoking prevalence compared with other Asian immigrants in California. In binge drinking, 26.5% of male and 8.1% of female among Korean Americans were binge drinker, and the rates were the top with Asian Americans who had lived in California. It showed the remarkable gap between gender of smoking and binge drinking among Vietnamese immigrants, whereas not the striking difference among Japanese Americans. In multiple regression models, age, educational level, occupation, marital status, English proficiency, and health insurance coverage remained significant for smoking and binge drinking behaviors(P<0.05). Even though the time in the US was not significant, it seemed to be related to educational level and English proficiency. In particular among female, smoking and binge drinking behaviors were associated with acculturation. Conclusion: Although Asian Americans had shared with American culture since they had immigrated in the US, they had significantly different prevalence rates of smoking and binge drinking based on gender and ethnicity. Therefore, future efforts should be focused on understanding differences by ethnicity and target at high-risk subgroups. To achieve this, it needs to develop the educational materials in Korean and their original languages.

Chinese Female Immigrants English-Speaking Ability and Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Practices in the New York Metropolitan Area

  • Chen, Wei-Ti;Wang, Justin
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.733-738
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    • 2013
  • Background: Breast and cervical cancers are significant causes of mortality and morbidity for Asian women, and poor English-speaking ability is a barrier to cancer prevention practices. Materials and Methods: This project tested relationships among English-speaking ability and early detection practices regarding to breast and cervical cancer among female Chinese immigrants. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used. Results: 175 female Chinese immigrants completed the survey in the breast cancer prevention section, and 35 of them also completed the cervical cancer prevention section. Some 63% of them had heard about the clinical breast exam (CBE), but only 54% had had a CBE. While 46% of the participants were aware of their need for a Pap smear, only 31% had heard about it and had undergone a pelvic exam. Conclusions: English-speaking ability was strongly associated with immigrant women's knowledge of female cancer early detection. Culturally and linguistic issues should be considered as the first step to access immigrant population in designing future education intervention.

Adaptation to Motherhood in Central Asian-Korean Immigrants to Korea: A Grounded Theory Study (한국으로 이주한 고려인 여성의 모성 적응과정: 근거이론연구)

  • Kim, Su Hyun;Cho Chung, Hyang-In
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.49 no.6
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    • pp.677-689
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to develop a substantive theory of the process of adaptation to motherhood in Central Asian-Korean immigrants to Korea. Methods: Individual, in-depth interviews were conducted from July to September 2017, with 18 women who emigrated of Korean ethnicity from Central Asia to Korea, and took care of their baby for at least a year after their first delivery in Korea. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data from the transcriptions were analyzed through Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory method, and data analysis was conducted simultaneously with data collection. Results: As a result of categorizing the interview data through the process of open coding, 10 categories, with 31 subcategories and 102 concepts were drawn, and "growth as a Central Asian-Korean mother in an unfamiliar, historical hometown" was found to be the core category of the process of adaptation to motherhood in Central Asian-Korean immigrants to Korea. Conclusion: A characteristic of the process of adaptation to motherhood in Central Asian-Korean immigrants to Korea, drawn from this study, is that it differs according to the level of initiative to carry out interaction strategies, and the use of various supportive social resources. The findings indicate the need for Medicare eligibility adjustment for antenatal care, the extension of the visa renewal period during childbirth, the development of web- or mobile application-based educational programs in Russian language, and the establishment of integrated visiting healthcare services, community service resources, and policy support to enable these women to utilize various supportive social resources.

Social Support and COVID-19 Stress Among Immigrants in South Korea

  • Souhyun Jang;Paul Youngbin Kim;Min-Sun Kim;Hoyoun Koh;Kyungmin Baek
    • Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.163-178
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    • 2023
  • Individuals have been under more stress since the COVID-19 pandemic began than they were before the pandemic. While social support is a known stress buffer among the general population, its impact on stress among vulnerable populations, such as immigrants and those living in rural areas, has received little attention in the context of South Korea. Accordingly, we examined the relationship between different types of social support and COVID-19 stress among young adult immigrants based on where they live (rural vs. urban). We conducted a survey of 300 young adult immigrants aged 25-34 years and analyzed the results. The dependent variable was COVID-19 stress, and the independent variables were four types of social support: emotional, appraisal, instrumental, and informational. We discovered that young adult immigrants in rural areas perceived higher-level social supportin all aspects compared with those in urban areas. Furthermore, social support was not related to COVID-19 stress in urban areas, while appraisal support was positively and informational support was negatively related to COVID-19 stress in rural areas. Our findings suggest that a contextualized understanding of social support is critical to understanding COVID-related stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Development of an Educational Program to Prevent Cervical Cancer among Immigrants in Korea

  • Choi, So Young
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.9
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    • pp.5345-5349
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    • 2013
  • Background: This study developed and measured the effects of a cervical cancer prevention program for married women immigrants. Materials and Methods: A nonequivalent control group pre-test/post-test design was used with a group of married women immigrants registered at the multi-cultural center in the city of "J." Data on for 30 participants in the intervention group and 27 participants in the control group (N=57) were used for analysis. The intervention group attended a 4-session cervical cancer prevention program. Results: The knowledge of the intervention and control groups about cervical cancer post-intervention was significantly different (F=12.55, p<0.001). The perceived susceptibility score before and after the experiment, for the intervention group, and 29.4 and 28 for the control group, was significantly different (t=2.063, p=0.043). After the program, cancer prevention behavior was significantly different in the intervention group (t=2.646, p=0.010). Conclusions: The results obtained in this study indicate that the cervical cancer preventive program was effective in increasing cervical cancer knowledge, perceived susceptibility, and cancer prevention behavior.

A New Challenge to Korean American Religious Identity: Cultural Crisis in Korean American Christianity

  • Ro, Young-Chan
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.18
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    • pp.53-79
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    • 2004
  • This paper explores the relationship between Korean immigrants to the United States and their religious identity from the cultural point of view. Most scholarly studies on Korean immigrants in the United States have been dominated by sociological approach and ethnic studies in examining the social dimension of the Korean immigrant communities while neglecting issues concerning their religious identity and cultural heritage. Most Korean immigrants to America attend Korean churches regardless their religious affiliation before they came to America. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the fact that Korean church has provided a necessary social service for the newly arrived immigrants. Korean churches have been able to play a key role in the life of Korean immigrants. Korean immigrants, however, have shown a unique aspect regarding their religious identity compared to other immigrants communities in the United States. America is a nation of immigrants, coming from different parts of the world. Each immigrant community has brought their unique cultural heritage and religious persuasion. Asian immigrants, for example, brought their own traditional religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism. People from the Middle Eastern countries brought Islamic faith while European Jews brought the Jewish tradition. In these immigrant communities, religious identity and cultural heritage were homo genously harmonized. Jewish people built synagogue and taught Hebrew, Jewish history, culture, and faith. In this case, synagogue was not only the house of worship for Jews but also the center for learning Jewish history, culture, faith, and language. In short, Jewish cultural history was intimately related to Jewish religious history; for Jewish immigrants, learning their social and political history was indeed identical with leaning of their religious history. The same can be said about the relationship between Indian community and Hinduism. Hindu temples serve as the center of Indian immigrantsin providing the social, cultural, and spiritual functions. Buddhist temples, for that matter, serve the same function to the people from the Asian countries. Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetans, and Thais have brought their respective Buddhist traditions to America and practice and maintain both their religious faith and cultural heritage. Middle Eastern people, for example, have brought Islamic faith to the United States, and Mosques have become the center for learning their language, practicing their faith, and maintaining their cultural heritage. Korean immigrants, unlike any other immigrant group, have brought Christianity, which is not a Korean traditional religion but a Western religion they received in 18th and 19th centuries from the West and America, back to the United States, and church has become the center of their lives in America. In this context, Koreans and Korean-Americans have a unique situation in which they practice Christianity as their religion but try to maintain their non-Christian cultural heritage. For the Korean immigrants, their religious identity and cultural identity are not the same. Although Korean church so far has provides the social and religious functions to fill the need of Korean immigrants, but it may not be able to become the most effective institution to provide and maintain Korean cultural heritage. In this respect, Korean churches must be able to open to traditional Korean religions or the religions of Korean origin to cultivate and nurture Korean cultural heritage.

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Comparing Human Resources Theories of Technological Entrepreneurs : Asian Immigrants in the U.S. (기술기업가의 인적자원가설비교 : 미국의 아시안사례)

  • Lee, Sae-Jae
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.106-113
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    • 2011
  • Human resource theories of becoming entrepreneurs or self-employed rather than finding employment are compared as applied to fit the occupational data of technological entrepreneurs and technology jobs. The human capital theory posits that technological entrepreneurs are prepared to become a jack-of-all-trades with a variety of fields of education. Hobo theory of entrepreneurship assumes that entrepreneurs have strong taste against concentrating on a few activities, which tend to drive entrepreneurs away from employed jobs depressing their expected income. Another theory assumes that entrepreneurs have some unobserved productive qualities and abilities over employed people. Immigrant entrepreneurs could presumably be pressured out of employment under racial discrimination. Since technology jobs are mostly filled by those educated in the science and technology fields, and they presumably offer great reward to professional concentration, technological entrepreneurs may not benefit from becoming jacks-of-all-trades compared to finding employment in technological jobs income-wise. Asian immigrants in the 2000 US Census data are compared to white immigrants in technological jobs to test alternative human resource theories of entrepreneurship. Using English language ability as a proxy for the variety of education, I find in the white immigrant technological entrepreneurs support for the jack-of-all-trades theory, while in the Asian immigrant technological entrepreneurs hobo theory is supported. In the Asian technological workers only there appears the significant self-selection or comparative advantage component, while at the same time discriminatory components are significant.

Determinants of English Ability among Korean and Other Asian Immigrants in the US (미국에 거주하는 한국인과 아시아인들의 영어사용능력 결정요인에 관한 연구)

  • 이성우;민성희;김성수
    • Korea journal of population studies
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.255-286
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    • 2001
  • The development of language skills among immigrants is important for their economic adjustment in their host societies since language is an important dimension of the skill levels of immigrants relevant for the labor markets of the host countries. Moreover, language plays a key role in the social adjustment of immigrants and in the social and political cohesion particularly in the society like the US that has diverse racial and ethnic groups. The main purposes of the present study are to analyze the determinants of English abilities of Korean and other Asian immigrants in the US. The present study utilizes the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS, S, 5%) in the US. We adopted the ordered probit technique to analyze qualitative differences of English ability. The study found that English fluency increases with a longer duration in the US, the presence of children in the household, living in an area in which a smaller proportion speak ones mother tongue, a younger age at immigration, a higher level of schooling. However, there are marked variations in levels of English proficiency among Asian immigrants.

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Health Literacy and Its Associated Factors in Korean-Chinese and Other Asian Immigrant Women in Korea (조선족과 다른 출신국 여성결혼이민자의 건강문해력과 영향 요인 비교)

  • Yang, Sook Ja;Chee, Yeon Kyung;An, Jisook;Park, Min Hee;Jung, Sunok
    • Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.211-227
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    • 2014
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare health literacy levels of Asian immigrant women and factors associated with health literacy focusing on Korean-Chinese and other Asian immigrants in Korea. Methods: Data were drawn from 258 immigrant women, comprising 56 Korean-Chinese and 202 other immigrants from the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Taiwan, and Han-Chinese. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine - Short Form (REALM-SF) was used to assess health literacy, which consisted of seven medical words in Korean (behavior, exercise, menopause, rectal, antibiotics, anemia, and jaundice). Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA with $Sch{\acute{e}}ffe$ post hoc test, and hierarchical regression. Results: Korean-Chinese women showed significantly higher levels of health literacy ($M=6.41{\pm}1.07$), compared to their other immigrant counterparts ($M=4.55{\pm}2.15$). While Korean-Chinese women with longer time since immigration (p=.048) reported higher health literacy, for other immigrants, those living with children (p<.001), longer time since immigration (p=.011), and greater Korean language proficiency (p=.004) showed an association with higher health literacy. Conclusion: When providing health care services and health education, health care professionals should consider differences in levels of health literacy and factors associated with health literacy among Korean Chinese and other immigrants.

Factors related to Korean Dietary Adaptation in Chinese Female Marriage Immigrants living in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (수도권에 거주하는 중국인 여성결혼이민자의 한국 식생활적응 관련 요인)

  • Asano, Kana;Yoon, Jihyun;Ryu, Si-Hyun
    • Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.234-245
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    • 2015
  • This study aimed to investigate factors related to Chinese female marriage immigrants' dietary adaptation. An in-person survey was conducted by a research institute on Chinese female marriage immigrants married to Korean men, having one child or more aged 1~6 years old, and having resided in Korea for at least 1 year before the survey. Data were collected from 309 respondents comprising 151 Han Chinese and 158 Korean-Chinese during the summer of 2013. About two-thirds of respondents were in their 30s and had resided in Korea for 5 to 10 years. Based on the overall mean score for dietary adaptation level (3.50 out of 5 points), the respondents were classified into two groups: low dietary adaptation group (mean score 3.11) and high dietary adaptation group (mean score 3.81). The results of comparative analysis between the two groups showed that the levels of acculturation (p<0.01) and healthy dietary behavior (p<0.01) for the high dietary adaptation group were significantly higher than those of low dietary adaptation group. The number of respondents of the high dietary adaptation group reporting increased food diversity (p<0.01) and decreased frequency of skipping meals (p<0.01) was significantly higher compare to the low dietary adaptation group. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify factors related to dietary adaptation. General characteristics, levels of acculturation, and healthy dietary behavior were included as independent variables. As a result, levels of acculturation and healthy dietary behavior as well as education level, monthly household income, and length of residence in Korea were associated with dietary adaptation. In conclusion, Chinese female marriage immigrants showing acculturated and healthy dietary behaviors adapted well to Korean dietary life. The results from this study suggest that diet-related adaptation support programs for Chinese female marriage immigrants may positively affect their acculturation and dietary behaviors.