• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.157-174
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• 2008

This study used the person-oriented approach to explore differences in narrative representations of 97 4-, 5- and 6-year old children (30 foster care, 40 biological family, 17 adopted). Using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (Bretherton et al., 1990), observations were made to obtain children's narrative representations of content themes and performances. Descriptive statistics, ANOV A and hierarchical cluster analyses were performed. The results of this study were that : (1) Biological family children showed more empathy/helping representations. Foster care children and adopted children showed more anxious representations, and foster care children showed more dysregulated aggression. (2) Four clusters of foster care and adopted children and five clusters of family biological children were found.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.15-33
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• 2015

The present study conducted ethnography of a welfare facility for single-father families. The participants were 13 single-fathers living in a welfare facility. To explore life within the welfare facility, the qualitative research method of ethnography was used with Spradley's developmental research sequence (DRS). The major results of this study were as follows. The first theme was 'finding a way to overcome the crisis: the facility is a lifeline.' For fathers, choosing to enter a facility meant enduring a social stigma, but the decision was made with the hope of achieving successful parenting and economic independence amidst pressing difficulties. The category of living in the facility was represented by the theme 'build the family: preparing for independence through living in a welfare facility.' The fathers achieved psychological recovery through the decrease in parenting stress, improvements in their economic situation brought by living in a facility, and used this time as the foundation to gain independence and build a stable life. The event of departure from the facility was seen as 'incomplete preparation for departure' by the single fathers. The fathers with infants or younger children admitted to being anxious about leaving the facility, which involved the burden of raising the children on their own. There are practical and policy-related implications based on the results of this study.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-166
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• 2014

This study attempted to explore how middle aged married men and women prospected a Centenarian society and what implications their prospect cast for family policy. We conducted focus group interviews with five groups in order to identify their subjective prospects on marital relations, parent-child relations, caregiving from family or institutions, and alternative living arrangement. From those interviews, we found that married men and women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s possessed ambivalent attitudes toward their marital relationship, either acknowledging an importance of marital relationship or accepting long-standing disrespectful marital relationship. They also had a dualistic perspective on parent-child relationship, accepting parental responsibility for children and even grand-children but maintaining low expectations for children. What they needed was age appropriate opportunities for work or leisure and better community services and facilities. These results showed that the middle-aged was concerned experiencing unprecedented family situations. They needed family life education and services in order to adapt to the Centenarian society. Since family policy has viewed this age group out of service target, programs and services have been underdeveloped for this group. Expecting a Centenarian society however, we need to expand the boundary of family policy and take a new perspective. We need to develop and implement marital education programs, community-based self-care services, and age-appropriated opportunities for work, leisure, and social relations.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.595-604
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• 2015

This study analyzes child variables (child's temperament and child's depression) and parent variables (spouse support, social support, and job satisfaction) associated with married nurse parenting stress and provides data that can assist institutional support mechanisms. The research targeted 232 nurses at five general hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Jeolla-do, Chungcheong-do with elementary children. Data were analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results of the study were as follows. First, there were significant correlations in parenting age, child number and parenting stress for mothers. Second, married nurses with high sociality of temperament, low sensitivity of temperament, and high activity of temperament child as well as married nurses with spouse support, social support, job satisfaction saw a reduction in high levels of parenting stress. Third, the results of this study showed that child depression, sensitivity of temperament, spouse support, and job satisfaction were factors to understand married nurses parenting stress. Child depression was an important factor to understand married nurses parenting stress. The results indicated variables affecting parenting stress of married nurses and suggested directions for the social welfare system.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.345-366
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• 2012

This study analyze Family gaps(the wage gap between mothers and non-mothers) across the wages distribution in Korea using 2008 Korean Labor and Income Panel Study. Analysis models include Heckman's two stage estimation to control women's labor participation selection and Quantile regression method to examine the effects of children at different points of the wage distribution. The result indicates that first, comparing non-mothers, mothers with one child suffer statistically significant hourly wage losses at 25th, 50th, and 75th distribution, however not significant effects are found at lowest(10th) and highest(90th) distribution. Second, comparing non-mothers, mothers with two more children suffer statistically significant hourly wage losses at all distribution. Family gap differs across the wage distribution and highest family gaps are found at 25th distribution. With these results, the author suggests universal family policies to support mothers' labor participation and the reconciliation of work and family.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.281-297
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• 2014

The present study aimed to examine the influences of four aspects of family friendliness (i. e., safety, accessibility, convenience, and amenity) and diversity of services designed to support children's development and parenting on parental satisfaction with services. The participants of this study comprised 259 parents (214 mothers and 45 fathers) who had at least one child aged 0 to 11 and lived in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheong-do, or Gyeongsang-do Provinces. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. Our results indicated that the effects of family friendliness and diversity of services on parental service satisfaction differed by children's developmental level. For parents of elementary school-aged children, the safer the services and the more services they used, the more they were likely to be satisfied with the services provided. In contrast, the safety and the amenity of services had positive influences on parental satisfaction with support services for parents with toddlers while the safety had a significant effect for those who had preschoolers.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.143-155
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of psychological well-being on married immigrant women's parenting efficacy. Methods: The participants consisted of 145 married immigrant mothers who were members of multi-cultural family support centers in Andong, Young-ju, Uiseung, and Munkyung cities in Gyeongsangbuk-do province. Results: The main results are as follows. First, the levels of language competence and education were significantly related to psychological well-being, suggesting that the level of language competence as well as the level of education could be main factors for psychological well-being. Further, numbers of children and monthly household income were significantly related to parenting efficacy. Second, psychological well-being was correlated with parenting efficacy of married immigrant women, demonstrating that psychological well-being was the most effective variable for parenting efficacy. Third, self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and personal growth in the psychological well-being significantly predicted parenting efficacy. Conclusion: These findings suggested that we should reconsider the importance of psychological well-being in supporting programs for parenting.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.95-110
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire on multicultural family support services. Methods: The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire was designed to address key elements of the client's satisfaction with the services (i.e., family education, gender equality education, human right education, and social integration education) provided for multicultural families. The nationwide data were collected from 5,335 clients who participated in family education, 4,582 clients who participated in gender equality education, 4,777 clients who participated in human right education, and 5,547 clients who participated in social integration education at the multicultural family support center. Results: In general, the psychometric properties of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire were satisfactory. Specifically, social validity was supported by 13 professors and local multicultural service center professionals and construct validity was tested and confirmed using a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The split-half reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were also highly acceptable. Conclusion: The sound psychometric properties of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire indicates that the it can be a useful tool for evaluating client satisfaction with the services provided by multicultural family support centers.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.44 no.1 s.215
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• pp.59-74
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• 2006

As an exploratory inquiry prior to developing a measure to assess Korean families with adolescents' family resilience, this study examined the construct validity of the family resilience measures that were developed in the U. S. Iowa Youth and Families Project(Conger & Elder, 1994): emotional support between spouses, problem solving style between spouses, and parenting behavior. The participants were 277 pairs of middle aged, middle class husbands and wives (554 individuals) who were the parents of first graders in middle schools in the metropolitan areas around Seoul. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity, indicating that emotional support, problem solving style, and parenting behavior may be used as measures to assess Korean family resilience. However, further tests of convergent validity using various assessment methods and analytical procedures are needed to ensure the construct validity of family resilience measures.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.565-583
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• 2023

This study sought to examine the effects of current single-parent family policies on the psychological adaptation of family members in single-parent homes, while also confirming that visitation and child support are indeed in the best interests of children in such cases. An online survey was conducted in 2021 for divorced single mothers and their children (aged 11 to 19) living in metropolitan regions (Seoul, Kyunggi, and Incheon). A total of 171 dyads, comprised of single mothers and their adolescent children, participated in this study. Using the collected data, descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation modeling were performed. The major results of this study are as follows. First, visitation with fathers was not significantly associated with self-esteem, aggression, or life satisfaction among the participating adolescent children. On the other hand, when child support was paid, aggression among adolescents was lower than when child support was not paid. Second, neither visitation nor child support was significantly associated with single mothers' levels of depression and life satisfaction. The enforcement of child support guarantees the welfare of children and conforms to the principle of promoting the best interests of minor children. Therefore, child support should be continuously encouraged and supported by agencies in accordance with current law. In order for the implementation of visitation to be in the best interest of the child, the amount and quality of visitation should be secured so that the child can still recognize their non-custodial parents as "caregivers."