• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of stress, social support, and marital satisfaction between married immigrant women living in urban areas and women living in rural areas to identify ways to improve their mental health. Methods: Two hundred married immigrant women were recruited from multicultural familysupport centers located in Daejeon City and Chungcheong Province. From July, 2009 to January, 2010, data were collected using self- administered questionnaire. Study instruments were scales for acculturative stress, housewives life stress, support from spouse, and marital satisfaction. Results: Urban married immigrant women had lower levels of acculturative stress and higher levels of support from spouse and more positive marital satisfaction compared to rural women. Both groups reported similar levels of stress in life as a housewife. Factors influencing marital satisfaction in both group were lower levels of acculturative and housewives life stress, higher levels of support from spouse, and living with parents-in-law. Conclusion: Rural married immigrant women may have more problems in adjusting to Korean culture and marriage compared to urban women. Therefore, to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing and marital adjustment of married immigrant women, development of nursing strategies according to area of residence is needed.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.121-145
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to understand married female immigrants' life adjustment process in Korea by explaining the resources to which they have access and how they use them. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with ten female participants who have more than one child, have participated in programs of the multicultural family support center, have work experience, can communicate with Koreans, and live in Daegu. The major findings are as follows. The participants' personal resources differed. English language skills were very useful resources for making money and for earning the respect of family members and others. However, the participants without English language skills had sincerely and actively tried to learn the Korean language and gain bilingual competence. The participants obtained diverse family resources from their husbands and parents-in-law after adapting themselves to perform their gender role. Further, the participants used the social resources offered by public support systems as a starting point for learning the Korean language in their early adaptation process, and formed personal networks with staff members at the multicultural family support center. The results show that the participants used many kinds of resources for acculturation by interacting positively with their environment. Moreover, the resources from diverse levels of their environments affected their acculturation process.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.394-405
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe cultural meanings for married Japanese immigrant women in rural Korean communities. Methods: The informants were 10 women in rural areas. Data were collected from August 2017 to June 2018 through in-depth interviews and participant observations and analyzed using text analysis and taxonomic methods developed by Spradley. Results: The meanings of adaptation were classified into five cultural domains: Practicing the doctrine, accepting the difference, redemption, true home, and confronting reality. The subthemes according to meanings of adaptation were comprised of international marriage with a sense of calling, bearing with sense of duty, and making a living substantively. The subthemes in this study reflect the process of adaptation. The cultural themes in the process of adaptation were overcoming differences and conflicts between Korea and Japan to achieve true family. Conclusion: The adaptation processes of married Japanese immigrant women included making their living reality known and recognizing the times when exchanges between Koreans and Japanese cannot exist within a hostile composition.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.385-395
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• 2022

Purpose: To support implementation of comprehensive, person-centered healthcare, this study aimed to explore immigrant women's public health center (PHC) service experiences and needs while considering Photovoice's feasibility for this purpose. Methods: This qualitative study included 15 marriage-based immigrant women. Participants were recruited from churches and multicultural family support centers using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through four focus group interviews and were subjected to inductive content analysis. Results: Five categories of experiences were identified: language barriers, hectic environment, affordable and practical primary healthcare, feeling ignored and discriminated against, and feeling frustrated. In addition, five categories of needs were identified: language assistance services, ease of access, healthcare across the lifespan, expansion of affordable healthcare, and being accepted as they are. This study provides preliminary evidence that the Photovoice approach can facilitate the interview process in a qualitative inquiry involving participants with limited ability to express their perspectives in the researchers' language. Conclusion: Study findings highlight the need to implement institutional policy and procedural changes within PHCs and to provide culturally competent, personcentered care for South Korea's marriage-based immigrant women and other ethnic minority populations. The findings also provide evidence-based direction for PHC service planning.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.40-53
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• 2008

A case study has been conducted on the changes in the identity and agency of international marriage migrant women who experienced a shift from a immigrant worker to a foreign spouse and a Korean citizen. The life histories of the eight female migrants living in Gumi area, a representative inland industrial complex in Korea, have been investigated by in-depth interview. The aim is to examine how the female migrants reconstruct and interpret their lives. The results reveal that the identy of a female migrant is flexible depending on her social positionality. The identities established from the past experiences in their native countries have been changed by their situations and conditions in Korea. The female immigrants recognize that their problems have been an important issue both in government policy and mass media. However, the female migrants express a strong revolt against the fact that they are considered as underclass victims or innocent people from underdeveloped countries. This implies their ambivalence toward international marriage that they selected subjectively. There is a finding to show a new possibility; the Transnational Marriage & Family Support Center supported by Government may provide a good ground for the female migrants to be a active group agent. The results illustrate that the international marriage migrant women could not be classified into a single group as wives. Called for are diverse researches reflecting the complex situations of migrant women.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.173-189
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• 2015

The Korean society has been dramatically changed in its population, with rapidly increasing number of multicultural families through international marriages. The objective is to investigate the dietary patterns as an acculturation for multicultural families in urban area. The research target was 89 marriage immigrant females in Daejeon, in whom 50.6 % was in their twenties and 49.4 % was in their thirties to forties. 39.3% of the subjects was from China and 28.1 % from Vietnam, which showed similar pattern to the ratio of marriage immigrants' homeland in Korea. As age goes higher, cultural adaptation in Korea was the integration pattern. Marriage immigrant females from Vietnam showed the highest rates of marginalization pattern as cultural adaptation. Moreover, those with longer marriage duration and with children tend to show higher rates of integration pattern. 'Food attitude', 'food diversity', and 'balance life' as eating behaviors are related with acculturation. In conclusion, the multicultural families in urban area showed integration acculturation patterns, which could be influenced by their socioeconomic factors, such as residence period and Korean language ability and food diversity as dietary patterns factors. Further study with a quantitative analysis is needed in order to understand the effect of dietary patterns on acculturation in the multicultural families.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.369-382
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• 2013

This study is to identify health promoting behaviors and health problems of female marriage immigrant in Korea and is an descriptive study for searching the factors influencing health problems of them. And to provide basic data for developing health promoting interventions for them. Methods: The tools for this study were HPLP II developed by Walker et al. (1995) and modified and translated by Park (2005), CMI developed by Weider et al. (1945) and translated by Go & Park(1980), and modified by Seo and Park(2010). Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS WIN 18.0 program. Results Conclusion: Female marriage immigrants have done low level of health promoting behavior(2.01) and they had more mental health problems than physical health problems. Factors influencing health problems of the participants were found to be self-rated health and general character which includes age-gap with partner, partner's education and age of female marriage immigrant. Factors influencing self-rated health of the participants were found to be exercise of health promoting behaviors and monthly income. In consideration of this result, we need to provide health education and develop health programs for female marriage immigrant in Korea.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.861-871
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• 2018

This study aims to explore the cultural contact experience of the Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant's between Vietnamese and Korean culture which is based on the traditional holidays. In order to achieve the goal of this study, this study was conducted by case study method and the data collection was conducted through in - depth interviews with 7 Vietnamese marriage immigrant women. The results of the study are as follows. While Vietnamese married immigrant women have become familiar with Korean culture by experiencing Korean culture while experiencing their own culture, they are experiencing a lot of conflicts due to cultural differences between their home country and Korea. However, they were able to confirm their aggressive adaptation in their domestic and social environments through their experience of traditional Korean festivals. Based on these findings, this study proposes the following suggestions for successful immigrant marriage immigration. First, for a harmonious family life in a Vietnamese multicultural families, it is not a one-way education for married immigrant women, but a mutual culture Education should proceed. Second, marriage immigrant women expressed the feeling that they did not feel family bond and communication in the holiday place. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire the function of traditional festival that promotes the bond of community with more specific programs and events related to traditional festivals do.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2014

Purpose: To provide an in-depth analysis of the physical changes in and marital experiences of immigrant women in Korea, considering the differences in their cultural backgrounds. Methods: A qualitative research methodology with a phenomenology perspective was used. Data were collected through interviews from four focus groups and through in-depth interviews from five individuals. Data analysis was carried out using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method. Results: Twenty-four participants from nine different nations were interviewed. Three phenomenological theme clusters were identified and six sub-themes were derived. These comprise: "emergence of physical changes", "experienced symptom with negative result", and "coping with my body". The derived themes comprise: "struggling for my body to survive", "changed body after pregnancy and delivery", "diagnosed as normal but", "neglected my health", "using familiar care", and "unfamiliar health service system". Conclusion: Immigrant women by marriage in Korea are new subjects of nursing care. Their physical changes and experiences in coping with marriage at an early stage of immigration as described by themselves provide valuable information for nursing professionals. Cultural differences, problems specific to women, and our social conditions regarding minorities and our patriarchal tradition that discriminates against women affect their health problems. We strongly recommend that nurses should actively determine and engage in the health problems of immigrant women.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.255-268
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding about mothers' parenting stress in multi-cultural families. The study was conducted through in-depth interviews of 6 mothers from Mongolia, Philippines, and Japan who were living in Seoul. The findings of this study were as follows. First, mothers of multi-cultural families had difficulties of giving birth and child rearing, especially in the earliest years of their children. They were not fully adapted to the ways of living in Korea with little social support from family members and neighbors. Second, they were worried about their children's development, particularly language development due to their lack of understanding and fluency in Korean. Third, they were concerned about the cultural and racial discrimination against their children. They expected their children to be treated and respected equally like ordinary Korean children. Fourth, they were anxious about the fact that their children might not acquire the basic academic skills before they enter the elementary schools. Furthermore, they were worried that their children might not get as much educational support as they want. Fifth, despite the burden of mother's role in Korea, they wished to get a job to support their children for better education. In conclusion, the marriage immigrant mothers experienced the stress due to the lack of social support, the discrimination against immigrants, the possibilities of their children's delays in development, the disparity in the level of support for educating their children and the high expectations about their children's education in Korean society. Therefore it is necessary for the policy makers to consider more practical support system for the multi-cultural families in order for the marriage immigrant mothers to build up self-confidence in child rearing and educating their children.