• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.104-110
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine dietary frequencies among Korean American adolescents in California, including the correlation of acculturation and parental dietary Consumption. This study was drawn from cross-sectional telephone surveys based on data from a larger study of Korean Americans in California using random sampling of residential phone listings. A total of 494 Korean American adolescents, ages 12 through 17, in California were collected with dietary frequencies and acculturation and one parents' demographic and dietary consumption information. Three-quarters of adolescents were classified as 'more acculturated group' into the U.S. society with a lower preference to Korean foods, frequent snacking, and lower consumptions of rice and kimchi. Other quarter of adolescents was classified as 'less acculturated group'. However, the most frequent food items by both groups were rice and kimchi. Fruit and vegetable consumption was associated between adolescents and parents in both groups, but rice and kimchi were associated only among the more-acculturated group. In conclusion, dietary frequencies of Korean American adolescents were influenced by acculturation and parental dietary consumption. These findings should inform future epidemiological researches as well as efforts to enhance the diet of Koreans and other immigrants.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.101-112
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• 2007

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the parent and peer attachment of both American parenting and nonparenting adolescents. Do parenting adolescents differ from nonparenting adolescents in their attachment to their parents and peers? A convenience sample of 190(81 parenting and 109 nonparenting) adolescents were recruited and participated in the current study. The short form of The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment(IPPA) developed by Armsden and Greenberg(1987) was used to measure attachment to their parents and peers. Overall, both parenting and nonparenting adolescents had more positive relationships with their peers than their mothers and only one significant difference in attachment between parenting and nonparenting adolescents were found in the present study. Parenting adolescents reported having less communication with their peers/friends than nonparenting adolescents. Implications and recommendations for future research are presented.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.321-335
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• 2004

The purposes of this study were 1) to investigate parental amounts of Internet use for purpose of rearing 2) to investigate their environment and preparation level to use Internet as educational information source 3) to investigate whether there are differences between Korean and U.S. parents in environment, level of preparation, and amounts of use of Internet for purposes of child rearing 4) to find out the factors of use of Internet for purposes of child rearing. The questionnaire used in this survey included five sections : background, environment, preparation, amount of total Internet use, and amount of Internet use for purposes of child rearing. Participants were 282 parents (128 American; 154 Korean) with at least one 3~ to 7-year-old child. Findings revealed that parents used the Internet frequently, but they did not frequently use the Internet for purposes of child rearing. There were differences between Korean and U.S. parents in environment, level of preparation, and amount of Internet use for purposes of child rearing. The main factor that affected use of the Internet for purposes of child rearing was 'trustworthiness of Internet information'. Finally, it was suggested the implications for better Internet use for purpose of rearing from the findings.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2015

Unlike daily hassles or minor stressors, immigration is an intense life event that may cause excessive stress. In particular, immigrant parents find themselves in a more stressful situation in that they experience stresses caused by immigration and stresses caused by parenting at the same time. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an Immigrant Parental Stress Inventory (IPSI), that objectively and comprehensively assesses the stress experienced by immigrant parents within the Korean context. Based on the Immigrant Parental Stress Inventory developed within the American context, preliminary items were refined through a literature review and the discussions of experts and immigrant parents and were empirically validated with a sample of 203 immigrant parents residing in Korea. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, six main factors were identified (Factor1 Difficulties in communication, Factor2 Financial difficulties, Factor3 Difficulties in social adjustment, Factor4 Social discrimination, Factor5 Lack of social resources, Factor6 Difficulties in parenting). The IPSI was shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument that is capable of measuring immigrant parental stress within the Korean context. Social service professionals and researchers studying or working with immigrant families could use the IPSI to examine immigrant parental stress.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.881-901
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• 2012

Since 2006, heated debates have taken place on both sides of the Pacific over the historical accuracy of Yoko Kawashima Watkins's So Far from the Bamboo Grove, the "historical novel" that depicts the author's painful escape from the just-liberated Korean peninsula to Japan. This study re-visits the controversies that fired up not only the whole Korean society but also not a few Americans and the American press. However, unlike most previous Korean studies on this novel, this study mostly focuses on both the responses of Korean feminists and those of Americans and the American press to the issue. This paper argues that the Korean feminists, who criticized their male compatriots for their feverish reaction, have the same problem as their compatriots, that is, the problem of seeing through a binary perspective that drowns or blurs individual differences. A similar framework is found operating in the Boston Globe's articles on the same issue. This study proceeds to discuss the pitfalls of liberalism underlying the American parents' and the American civil organizations' defence of Watkins and analyzes their poor historical awareness. The conclusion of this study is that So Far from the Bamboo Grove, dictated by an ideological prolepsis, erroneously inscribes the Cold War in the geographical space of the pre-Cold-War Korean peninsula and, as a result, symptomatically participates in the United States' anti-Communist world view.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.139-178
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• 2003

This study investigates Koreans respondents' perception of American society, American people and its influence in Korea and the world. These analyses have been conducted to provide the psychological, social and cultural basis for understanding the anti-American sentiments among Korean junior high school students, university students and adults. American influence is further divided into American influence on Korean society, on North-South Korean unification, and in the world. In addition, respondents' knowledge of the USA, their satisfaction with the current political functioning, and background information were obtained. A total of 763 respondents (171 junior high school students, 250 university students, and 342 parents of junior high school students) completed a survey questionnaire developed by the first two authors. The overall results indicate that the respondents had a negative view of the USA and its influence in Korea and the world. Majority of respondents perceive American society as being commercial, exclusionary, and ethnocentric. Some respondents perceive American society as being democratic and advanced. As for American people, they are perceive them as being selfish and at the same time independent and carefree. The trust for American society is very low. As for American influence in Korea, it is perceived it as creating dependency and less likely to be perceived as promoting progress and development. As for North-South Korean relations, respondents perceive the USA as interfering with the unification of two Koreas. Finally, respondents perceive the USA as a superpower with imperialistic and dominating tendencies and they were less like to perceive the USA as promoting democracy and justice. Significant differences across the age groups have been found with the junior high school students holding the most negative view about the USA and their parents holding the most positive view of the USA. University students had mixed views of the USA. holding both positive and negative views of the USA. Those respondents with greater dissatisfaction of the political system and with less knowledge about the USA has more negative views of the USA.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2006

This study is to compare the prevalence of obesity between Korean-American children and Korean children, and to investigate the role of environmental factors in obesity development. Prevalence of child obesity is compared by their residence, parents' anthropometric data, education and occupation, and the length of immigration, and birth place of the children. A total of 593 children between the ages of 9 and 12 were examined. 262 Korean-American children (KcUS group) from New Jersey, USA and 331 Korean children (KcK group) from Seoul, Korea were compared. KcUS group showed a higher obesity rate (male: 12.6% and female: 8.2%), compared to KcK group (male: 8.0% and female: 5.1 %). KcK male children showed lower weight and prevalence of obesity than Korean-American male children who lived in the United States for more than three years. Korean-American female children had higher weight and obesity rate than Korean female children. Waist circumference and hip circumference were also higher in obese children in both KcK and KcUS groups. The children who live in America had an odds ratio of 1.69 to be obese compared to KcK, while those born in America and those who have lived in America for more than 3 years had odds ratios of 1.53 and 1.25 to be obese, respectively. This study found that environmental factors, immigration to America for instance, could playa bigger role in child obese development than the genetic factor.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.89-103
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• 2012

Using a life course framework, we compare and contrast the processes of acculturation for first- and second-generation Korean immigrant fathers in the United States. In-depth life history interviews were conducted with 20 first-generation and 15 second-generation fathers in the Midwest. With a modified grounded theory approach of constant comparison, we first explored how these fathers developed their identities in the midst of cultural and social transitions. These men's identity construction was shaped by socio-economic statuses and accessibility to cultural resources, with a marked shift over time toward integration of Korean and American identities. We then examined how these identities informed the men's socialization of their children, and the children's socialization of their parents.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.93-106
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• 2024

Children play a crucial role in the lives of parents, but research on the parent-child relationship has focused mainly on its impact on parents' social relationships and happiness. This study explored how parenting motives affect the association between parents' relationship satisfaction with children and subjective well-being. Previous studies have suggested that the psychological benefits of achievement or positive experiences in specific life domains are dependent on the perceived importance of such domains. Thus, we hypothesized that a satisfying relationship with children can strongly predict the subjective well-being of parents with elevated parenting motives. The study included Korean (Study 1) and American (Study 2) participants. Results of both studies demonstrated a pronounced positive correlation between parents' relationship satisfaction with children and subjective well-being in individuals with high levels of parenting motives. This moderating effect persisted even after controlling for relevant covariates (e.g., gender, age, and Big 5 personality traits). Notably, this effect was particularly evident in subfactors of subjective well-being, which is negative affect.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1115-1124
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• 2008

Although parent-child relationships are fundamental aspects of human development across all societies, this relationship is also shaped in significant ways by culture. Therefore, the present study sought to determine whether adolescent autonomy was predicted in a similar or differential manner by several parent-adolescent variables consisting of parenting behavior, parental authority, and parents' educational attainment in samples of Chinese and American adolescents. The sample for this study included 418 Chinese adolescents and 226 American adolescents. Utilizing structural equation modeling, the results revealed that the effect of paternal authority on adolescent autonomy development is indirect, with the indirect effect being mediated by the authoritative parenting behaviors for both cultural groups. Therefore, the analyses for Chinese and European American youth generated similar association patterns, such that parenting behaviors served as a mediator in the relationship between paternal authority and adolescents' autonomy development. The significance of this present study is to contribute to existing knowledge in the field of adolescent development and to the literature on how parental behaviors and authority in collectivistic societies and individualist societies influence adolescent development.