• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.32-42
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence married female immigrants' perceived health status. Methods: This study was a retrospective review of dataset from the 2012 National Multicultural Family Survey in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression with the data of 3,014 married female immigrants. Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that demographic factors (age, education level, nationality, period of residency in Korea, and residential area), socio-economical factors (monthly family income, employment, support from the government for basic living, and Medicaid), social support factors (marital conflict, satisfaction with family relationships, some one to talk about self or family matters, meeting with homeland friend, and participation in community meeting), and immigration factors (life satisfaction, experience of social discrimination, and difficulties with living and using medical care) were associated with perceived health status. Conclusion: It is important to pay closer attention to immigrant women who have low economic status, less social support, experience difficulties with living in Korea and using medical care. An effective support system for this population should be developed in order to help them successfully transition.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.47-64
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• 2013

This study aimed to explore the social networks which married immigrant women have in Korea. Special attention was paid to factors such as individual, family, and migrant characteristics contributing to the different patterns of social networks. I drew upon the nationally representative data on 60,719 immigrant women married to Korean men from the '2009 Survey on Korean National Survey on Multicultural Families.' Results showed that the foreign wives tended to maintain a connection with our society through contact with their neighbors and participation in social gatherings. Findings also showed that the types of social networks by the number of trusted neighbors and meetings were diverse among the immigrant women. In addition, the factors differentiating the types were mostly associated with socioeconomic resources or Korean proficiency. More interestingly, the immigrant women's contacts with their family members in their homeland contributed to their maintenance of more active social networks. These results provided a useful outlook on the relationship between patterns of social networks and the characteristics of the married immigrant women, which eventually showed a heterogeneous nature among them. At the societal level, supportive systems for enriching immigrant women's social networks should be developed particularly in terms of not their dependency, but their potential contributions to our society.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.228-243
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the distinctions in dietary and health-related behaviors among Indonesian women who marry Koreans or into multicultural families (MF) and those who marry Indonesians living in Korea (IK) and in Indonesia (II). Methods: The study was performed with 192 subjects using an online questionnaire regarding food choice, dietary and health behavior, and nutrition quotient (NQ). The analysis used Pearson's chi-squared test, the Fisher's exact test, multinomial logistic regression, and the general linear model. Results: The MF group consumed Korean food more than once a day and Indonesian food 1-2 times monthly (p < 0.001). The main challenge for the IK and II groups in consuming Korean food was the presence of pork and the different food flavors (p < 0.001). The MF group tended to have normal body mass index, consumed more vitamin and mineral supplements (p = 0.014), and exercised regularly ≥150 min/week compared to the IK and II groups (p < 0.001). However, the MF group had the highest rate of skipping breakfast (p = 0.040). When evaluating the NQ of the participants, the MF group consumed more vegetables (p = 0.026), mixed grains (p = 0.031), and spicy and salt soups (p = 0.006). The II group consumed more fish (p = 0.005), beans (p = 0.009), and nuts (p = 0.003). The IK group checked the nutrition labels the most (p = 0.005), while their consumption of vegetables, fish, beans, and nuts was lowest. The MF group had a higher balance score, which resulted in a substantially more nutritious food intake compared to the other two groups (p = 0.037). Conclusion: The MF group consumed more vegetables and mixed grains, adequate fish, beans, and nuts, and engaged in longer daily physical activity. However, the IK group had a relatively low-quality diet and nutritional intake status compared to the other two groups, and this needs to be improved in the future.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.451-459
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between parenting experiences of married immigrant women and their mental health including self-esteem and depression. Data came from 471 married immigrant women with a child who participated in the home visiting program for children of multicultural families provided by Multicultural Family Support Centers. The results indicated that, the mothers' self-esteem was related to their perceptions of parenting, parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and social support. In addition, the mothers' depression was associated with their proficiency in Korean, household income, perception of parenting, parenting stress, knowledge on child development, marital satisfaction, and social support. These findings suggest that the parenting experiences of married immigrant women are closely related to their mental health. Parenting education programs that increase parenting efficacy and reduce parenting stress would be helpful to improve the mental health of married immigrant women.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.76-94
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was implemented to develop and validate a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ) to assess the dietary intake of married migrant women in multicultural families. Methods: The SQ-FFQ consisting of 41 food items was selected based on the information of frequently consumed foods from the preliminary studies on dietary intake survey for married migrant women or a Korean Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Thirty-five subjects who visited the Multicultural Family Support Center in Seoul and Daejeon area completed their three-day diet records and SQ-FFQ 2 times. The reproducibility and relative validity of SQ-FFQ were assessed by comparing the 1st and 2nd SQ-FFQ and by comparison with the three-day diet records, respectively. Results: The reliability of SQ-FFQ, which was examined 1-2 weeks apart, showed no significant difference in the energy and macronutrient intake (carbohydrate, fat, protein), while the average intakes of vitamin A, riboflavin, calcium, and potassium were slightly higher in the 2nd than 1st SQ-FFQ. All correlation coefficients for the reliability for nutrients were statistically significant, ranging from 0.453 to 0.885. The mean intakes of energy, carbohydrate, vitamin C, thiamin, folate, vitamin B12, calcium, and sodium obtained from the SQ-FFQ were greater than those of the 3-day dietary records. The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the 2 methods was the highest for plant fat (r = 0.602; p < 0.001) and relatively higher for energy, carbohydrate, fat, and thiamin ranging from 0.512 to 0.599; and protein, riboflavin, niacin, folate ranging from 0.335 to 0.499, while no significant correlation was observed for vitamin A, C, calcium, iron, and sodium. Conclusion: The developed SQ-FFQ for married migrant women in multicultural families in this study appears to be useful for estimating the nutritional status, particularly energy, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamin B group.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.893-907
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the related factors of dental caries and periodontal disease in adolescents from Korean multicultural families, thereby helping to reduce the prevalence rate of oral disease. Methods: The subjects were 710 multicultural adolescents recruited using a web-based survey, National 2015 Korean Youth Risk Behavior, from the Korean Center for Disease Control. A multicultural family was defined in this study as one having an immigrant mother or father. Oral symptoms included dental caries and periodontal disease. Toothache was defined as a symptom of dental caries. Tender or bleeding gums were defined as symptom of periodontal disease. For statistical analysis, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21.0 for Windows was used. Descriptive analysis and a Chi-square test were conducted to determine the factors associated with general characteristics, health behavior, and oral health behavior. Finally, to investigate the associations among oral disease symptoms, logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Toothache was significantly higher in female 1.52 (95% CI; 1.45-1.60), high school 1.23 (95% CI; 1.18-1.28), women school 1.10 (95% CI; 1.05-1.16), individuals with poor economic status 1.45 (95% CI; 1.30-1.52), and participants who consumed alcohol 1.32 (95% CI; 1.27-1.37). Toothache related to perceived health status was significantly lower in the healthy group 0.69 (95% CI; 0.64-0.75), and was higher in usual stress group 1.65 (95% CI; 1.57-1.74). Gum bleeding was significantly higher in female 1.32 (95% CI; 1.27-1.37), high school 1.15 (95% CI; 1.10-1.19), and individuals with poor economic status 1.38 (95% CI; 1.27-1.50). Gum bleeding related to perceived health status was significantly lower in the healthy group 0.68 (95% CI; 0.63-0.74), and was higher in usual stress group 1.54 (95% CI; 1.46-1.62). Conclusions: Taking into account of social and economic levels, and dietary habits in the multicultural families adolescents, further education and support will be needed for oral disease prevention and early treatment.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.299-321
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate how marriage migration females understand and adjust to the culture of family life in Korea. The study was the conducted by extensively interviewing one member from each of a total of 16 women's multicultural families at a daycare center area in Seoul between June 16, 2010 and July 28, 2010. The results can be summarized as follows: All interviewees were marriage migration females, in the range 20 to 50 years of age, and with middle educational backgrounds. They all had middle-level incomes. Through the content analysis of the informants' responses, three major factors were found to influence the understanding and adjustment of to the culture of family living: personal factors, familial support, and sociocultural support systems. Among the personal factors, the intimacy of the married couples was trouble major factor. An issue that tended to arise was that Korean husbands' traditional culture in terms of their way of thinking was often different from that of the wife's culture. However, husbands supported their wives' outside activities and friendships in order to help them adjust to the culture of family living. The husbands made an effort to understand their wives' original culture and national food, often visiting restaurants that served their wives' national cuisine. In terms of familial support, the most important factors affecting marriage migration females were orienting the education of children to the mother's native language, cooking their national foods, and visiting the mother's nation with the children. Marriage migration females had the following requires: The teacher in the daycare center needed to be interested in children from multicultural families and encourage self-pride in the marriage migration females' children. In terms of sociocultural support systems, marriage migration females are conscious of the indisposition and lack of consideration in Korean life. However, the Korean government and local provinces are concentrating attention on education for marriage migration females in terms of language, because learning the language can help these women to become accustomed to the rituals of Korean life. Marriage migration females make an effort to understand and adjust to Korean family living culture that involves the food culture for ceremonial occasions, folk plays, and places of historic interest. A matter of importance is Korean people's effort to understand and adjust to multicultural family with their distinctive cultures. Welfare policy related to multicultural families involves adopting supportive laws and actions.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.246-252
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• 2020

This study used the raw data of the 15th (2019) Korean Youth Health Risk Behavior Survey to investigate the risk factors of the health-risk behaviors of Korean multicultural adolescents on the subjective oral symptoms. The scope of the multicultural family was limited to children of immigrant women's families married to Korean men and immigrant male families married to Korean women, and 572 were selected as the final study subjects. The sociodemographic variables were surveyed as gender, grade, economic level, and school performance. The health risk behaviors included drinking, smoking, medication, stress, sleep satisfaction, suicidal thoughts, depression, and brushing before bedtime. The oral symptoms examined were toothache, gum pain, and halitosis. As a result, toothache was related to drinking, toothbrushing before sleep, stress, sleep satisfaction, suicidal thoughts, and depression. Gum pain was associated with drug use, sleep satisfaction, suicidal thoughts, and depression. Halitosis was associated with medication, brushing before sleep, stress, suicidal thoughts, and depression. In terms of health risk factors, drinking, stress, and sleep satisfaction were risk factors for toothache. Smoking, sleep satisfaction, and suicidal thoughts were risk factors for gum pain. The presence of toothbrushing and stress were risk factors for halitosis. In conclusion, a policy system is needed to support oral health education programs nationally at times, such as after-school activities or club activities, to promote oral health for teenagers.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.69-90
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• 2014

This study focused on the adjustment of family living culture in relation to women who have immigrated for marriage. Specifically, it sought to determine how Vietnamese immigrant women understand and adapt to the culture of family life in Seoul, Korea. The investigation was conducted from 2 May to 30 May 2014, with 28 Vietnamese immigrant women as participants. Personal, family, social, and cultural factors affecting family life and culture were considered. It was determined that Vietnamese women can easily adapt to life in Korea to provide; the results of the material analysis are described below. First, Vietnamese immigrant women are satisfied with their economic life in Korea. In Vietnam, women have the right to marry Korean men if they want to. Vietnamese women are encouraged to marry want to marry a Korean man. Because they are satisfied with the present marriage. Second, migrant women learn to adapt to South Korean culture and food. However, cultural differences between a woman's husband and mother-in-law can become a source of conflict. Third, children of multicultural families easily accept Vietnamese people, since they are educated to do so through their Vietnamese mothers Vietnamese woman wants to teach their children the Vietnamese food and culture. Fourth, the Vietnamese immigrant women also participate in multicultural family support centers and communities. They want to become productive members of society through employment opportunities in South Korea. Fifth, the cultural and welfare policies of the government should be carried on so that migrant women are able to study cultural adaptation. This case study examined difficulties that Vietnamese immigrant women have in adjusting to life and culture in Korea. The findings could be used as a resource to help Vietnamese women living in Korea.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1-13
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to conduct base line research, which is based on requestion of international married immigrant women, for developing social adaptation and family enrichment program for those population who reside in Korea. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 142 international married immigrant women who reside in Seoul to research program participate satisfaction and requestion. Analyze the study results, frequency, percentage, t-test, ANOVA and Duncan-post test were utilized. As a result, overall satisfaction toward program that offered by organization was highly ranked. Visiting service showed high score of satisfaction but mentor service that strongly possess sacrifice showed lower score of satisfaction. Vocational and job-related skill improvement education presented less satisfied degree of satisfaction but cooking class, computer class, training education for native-speaking instructor present high level of satisfaction. Second, the requisition of target population, who did not participate program, presented lower than the satisfaction, still present high demand of variety area of program. Among them, assist child nurturing and vocational and job- related skill improvement education showed high demand. It enable to predict that they are eager to get support toward parent role and self-realization. Third, when the difference were analyzed to compare the subjective judgement toward life adaptation in Korea and the satisfaction for program user and the requisition of non-user, the meaningful differences were founded; especially, individuals who possess confident degree of computer skills and Korean(reading, speaking, and listening) showed higher degree of satisfaction to vocation and job-skill related improvement education. This study has a practical implication, which is based on the study results, on developing a program to support international married immigrant women and multicultural families to satisfactory settlement in Korea life and to maintain healthy families.