• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 2012

Although the prevalence of divorce in South Korea has greatly increased since late 1990s, the impact of divorce on the parents of adult children in Korean families has received very little attention. This is particularly unfortunate because of the emphasis in Korean culture on family cohesion and obligations. To address these issues, we explored in our study the well-being of the parents of divorced adult children as well as intergenerational relationships among the members of Korean families. Total 113 parents participated (39 males and 74 females), age ranged from 46 to 65. Of the total participants surveyed, 29% were parents of divorced children (N=33), with the remainder having children in intact marriages (N=80). The measures examined four areas: (1) demographics, (2) parental psychological well-being, (3) intergeneration relationships, and (3) parental perception of their adult child's marital experience. A series of MANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Our findings indicate important differences between parents of divorced children and parents of non-divorced children on overall well-being, interpersonal relationships, and parental perception, which is consistent with previous studies. Parents of divorced children in this study also reported lower level of intergenerational relationships compared to parents of nondivorced children. Parent-grandchild relationships seem to be particularly important for parental well-being. In addition, we found an unexpected association between parents and their relationship with their former children inlaws. More detailed discussion was discussed.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.95-111
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• 2010

The purposes of this study were to show general trends in the aspects of psychological family environment (parental communication), peer factor, academic performance factor, depression perceived by adolescents and to examine possible changes in such trends in accordance with demographic variables and the family structure environment (parental marital status, family economic status, and parents' education level), and then to determine the effect of these variables on adolescents' depression. The subjects were 1009 middle and high school students in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. The main results were as follows: 1) Paternal communication was significantly lower in technical high school students, divorced/ separated parents, and families of lower economic status. Maternal communication was significantly lower in male students, divorced/sepa-rated parents, and families of lower economic status. Academic performance problems was significantly higher in males, technical high school students, divorced/ separated parents, families of lower economic status, and a less educated father. Peer relations was significantly lower in students of divorced / separated parents, and of families of lower economic status. Depression was significantly higher in technical high school students, divorced / separated parents, and families of lower economic status. 2) In the case of male students, paternal communication had both a direct and an indirect negative effect through peer relations on depression, while academic performance problems had both a direct and an indirect positive effect through peer relations on depression. Both peer relations and maternal communication had a positive and a negative direct effect on depression. School grade had both a direct and an indirect negative effect through paternal communication on depression. Parental marital status(divorced or separated) had both a direct and an indirect positive effect through academic performance problems on depression. Family economic status had only an indirect effect on discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.43 no.10 s.212
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• pp.91-102
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• 2005

This study investigated differences in the level of delinquent behaviors depending on family structures among adolescents. The subjects were 552 middle and high school students living in Seoul and Incheon, of whom 247 were being raised by single-parents and 305 by non-divorced parents. All respondents answered by self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed by t-test, Scheffe test, ANOVA and two-way ANOVA. The major findings were as follows. First, the level of adolescents' delinquent behaviors differed by sex and age. High school students tended to be more engaged in violence and status delinquent behaviors than middle school students. Male students were more likely to engage in social, sex and properly delinquent behaviors than female students. Second, there were differences in the level of delinquent behaviors depending on family structures among the adolescents. Mostly, adolescents with non-divorced parents were less delinquent than those with a single parent. Third, among the adolescents from a divorced family, then whose parents had been divorced for 1-2 years had the highest score in sex and property delinquent behaviors.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.323-336
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• 2009

There has been a significant increase in the number of divorced families during the past 10 years in Korea. Divorce imposes a great impact on their children as well as divorcees. As many as 1.41 million children under 20 years-old have experienced their parents' divorce in past 10 years. Children are faced with much difficulty in adjustment after the parental divorce. Issues of the research and policy on the divorced family are discussed in this study. For future studies, a longitudinal research model, father-custody and grandparent-custody families, custody parents's gender, a theoretical model for Korean divorced families should be considered. New legislations have been recently enacted to enhance children's well-being, but further efforts such as the involvement of child development specialists in the divorce process should be followed in the pursuit of the best interest of the children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.197-211
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• 2002

This study constructed a family life education program designed to help divorced parents. The purpose of this research was to develop long term education program for post-divorce adjustment. This program is consisted of 6 sessions aiming for understanding the grief process for adults and the six station of divorce, the recovery through forgiveness, children's response to divorce and coping strategy, the opened mind of parent-child relation, enhancing the self-esteem, the healthy single parent. We expect this program to be helpful in helping divorced parents'post-divorce adjustment, improving parent-child relation and helping future life of divorced parents.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.53
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• pp.117-159
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• 2016

This is a case study with the objectives of performing an in-depth investigation of the development process, outcome, and the factors related to the development process of Jinggomdari-the self-help group for divorced single parents at Wolgye social welfare center. Document review, in-depth interviews of the member/practitioner/middle manager, and participatory observations were performed and qualitatively analyzed. The results showed that the development process of Jinggomdari consisted of 4 phases including initiation, formation of basis, growth, and expansion/independence. Two categories including 'nurturing abilities and growth as an individual or within families or communities' and 'beyond Jinggomdari, into society', 6 subcategories, and 31 concepts were derived as the outcome. In terms of the factors related to the development process and outcome, 6 categories including 'members participating with sympathy despite various issues', 'outstanding and stabilized leadership', 'commitment of the practitioners showing utmost efforts despite shortcomings', 'effective functions as the hub supporting the low-income divorced single parents families based on the institution's firm determination', 'mixed group showing cautious but synergistic effects', 'dilemma of managing the low-income divorced single parents self-help group and lack of manual for management', 20 subcategories, and 61 concepts were derived. Management issues concerning low-income divorced single parents' self-help group was discussed based on these results.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.181-191
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to examine the social support network for divorced single mother families. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews with seven divorced single mothers who had at least one school-age child. Qualitative analysis of data showed that divorced single mothers evaluated themselves based on other people's perception. There were mainly three different kinds of self-images, which were “a competent divorced woman,” “a bad child to my parents,” and “a socially weak person.” We also found that there were two factors that influenced the everyday lives of single mothers: all of them .;offered hardships in living as a divorced woman with children, and they also had to deal with the weakened solidarity with family of origin, relatives, and neighbors. Single mothers shared common problems yet their lifestyles and adjustment strategies were diverse. Therefore, diverse social welfare policies for education and counseling for single mothers are urgently needed to support and empower divorced single mothers.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.59-75
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• 2013

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how divorced mothers had decided to take custody of their children and became single mothers. The experiences of their lives after divorce were also explored. Data were collected from 17 Korean divorced mothers who were divorced between 2004 and 2009, and were raising at least one minor child. The data were analyzed based on the phenomenological data analysis method. Three main themes were identified: (a) reasons for deciding to have physical custody of the children, (b) mothers' experiences of adjustment after divorce, and (c) mothers' need for a policy concerning the well-being of their families. According to the divorced mothers, they decided to have physical custody of the children since they believed raising children was their natural duty of mothers or they were the most appropriate ones to raise the children rather than the fathers. While the mothers were satisfied with their lives after divorce in general, they also experienced difficulties including child care and financial strain. In particular, most mothers experienced work-family conflict related to the lack of reliable child care. When their family lives and work lives collided, the mothers put their children first and chose jobs that helped them take care of their children at the same time. The divorced single mothers hoped that the social safety net for single parents would expand to support their independence. Implications for single-parent policy are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.1-15
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• 2008

This study explored adjustment of school-aged children from low-income divorced families. Specifically, protective factors for children's self-perceived competence and behavior problems were investigated with children's coping strategies, perceived social support, parents' childrearing style, and parental stress. Subjects of this study were 126 children of 4 to 6 grade and their custodial parents(38 fathers, 88 mothers) from divorced families. Children's self-perceived competence and behavior problems were not different neither by children's sex nor custodial parent's sex. When children used more positive and less negative coping strategies, and when parents experienced less childrearing stress, children perceived themselves to be more competent. Similarly, when children used more positive and less negative coping strategies, received more social support, they perceived themselves to be more adequate. Children whose parents had high levels of childrearing stress showed more internalized and externalized behavior problems. Furthermore, children who perceived less supports from peers showed more behavior problems.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.47-55
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• 2005

The purposes of this study are to examine the economic conditions and parenting of custodial fathers/mothers and to explain their impacts on the children's social adjustment after divorce. A total of 185 custodial parents divorced within the last 5 years completed a structured questionnaire. Children's social adjustment was the dependent variable in this study and was defined as their school performance and behavior problems. Results show that compared with divorced custodial fathers, divorced custodial mothers demonstrate more effective parenting, but there were no differences in economic conditions between them. In addition, children in single-father divorced families have lower school grades and more behavior problems than those in single-mother divorced families. Results also indicate that the economic conditions and parenting have different effects for children across family type. For children raised with a custodial father in divorced families, the economic conditions and the divorce duration are associated with lower school grades and behavior problems. For children with a custodial mother, however, the effective of parenting and the children's age have significant effects on the children's social adjustment after the parent divorced. Based on these results, this study proposes strategies for the improvement of children's adjustment in divorced families.