• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.93-104
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• 2009

Objectives: Although Asian immigrants have lower rates of smoking and binge drinking than other ethnics in the US, Korean Americans have the highest rate of Asian immigrants. This study, therefore, compared with the rates and examined the predictors of smoking and binge drinking by gender and ethnicity among Asian immigrants in California. Methods: In 2001 and 2003, California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were conducted in English and their original languages with Asian immigrants residing in 58 Counties and 3 Cities, California. We performed analysis to find out the differences of smoking and binge drinking rates using the secondary data, CHIS 2001 and 2003. Multiple logistic regression analysis for survey data identified predictors of smoking and binge drinking behaviors by gender and ethnicity. Results: Korean American males (35.4%) and Japanese American females (15.4%) had higher rates of smoking prevalence compared with other Asian immigrants in California. In binge drinking, 26.5% of male and 8.1% of female among Korean Americans were binge drinker, and the rates were the top with Asian Americans who had lived in California. It showed the remarkable gap between gender of smoking and binge drinking among Vietnamese immigrants, whereas not the striking difference among Japanese Americans. In multiple regression models, age, educational level, occupation, marital status, English proficiency, and health insurance coverage remained significant for smoking and binge drinking behaviors(P<0.05). Even though the time in the US was not significant, it seemed to be related to educational level and English proficiency. In particular among female, smoking and binge drinking behaviors were associated with acculturation. Conclusion: Although Asian Americans had shared with American culture since they had immigrated in the US, they had significantly different prevalence rates of smoking and binge drinking based on gender and ethnicity. Therefore, future efforts should be focused on understanding differences by ethnicity and target at high-risk subgroups. To achieve this, it needs to develop the educational materials in Korean and their original languages.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.379-387
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• 2014

This study aimed to explore the effects of married female immigrants' consciousness of later life and social and leisure activities on their preparation perception for their later life. We used data from 355 married female immigrants, residing in or nearby, Choongchungnam-do, Korea in 2013. Regressional analysis and SPSS 18.0 were conducted to prove the hypotheses. Consistent with previous studies, the findings of this study indicate that having more activities on leisure and social life and more planning on later life constitute critical factors for higher emotional, physical, and economical preparation perception for later life. Here we discussed strategies in planning social welfare policy for married female immigrants by providing basic information.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.103-114
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• 2017

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the married female immigrants' experience on Korean dietary life adaptation, especially identifying the symbolic meaning and nature of experiences. Methods: This study was conducted with six married female immigrants through an analysis of the qualitative materials which consisted of in-depth interviews, field notes and materials. Data was analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological research methods. Results: The results were deduced as 116 significant statements, 17 formulated meanings (sub-theme), and 6 theme clusters. Six theme clusters comprised of lack of preliminary knowledge and information, conflict and support in relationships, Korean food culture which is different from homeland, adaptation attitudes of Korean food culture according to situation, sharing of homeland food culture, and practical difficulty and expectative service. The participants started Korean life in the dark about Korea and Korean food culture, so they were subjected to trial and error. The conflict between Korean mother-in-law and foreign daughter-in-law came from lack of consideration of daughter-in-law's cultural background. Some participants were hurt because of misunderstanding and nitpicking. They were learning about cooking method, ingredient, seasoning, table setting and manner. Some participants integrated Korean food culture and their homeland food culture. Some of them assimilated with Korean food culture. One of them maintained homeland food culture. The participants who adapted Korean food culture well could share homeland food amicably. They sometimes didn't apply the services which were offered by the government, because the services did not fit their needs. Some of them didn't know the usage route of the services or information. They had resistance about home teaching and it showed that outreach service was not always effective. Conclusions: This study suggested that it is necessary to develop a practical support plan which covers married female immigrants' real needs and system improvement measures.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.327-338
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• 2011

In order to promote and comprehend marriage immigrants' culture, it is essential to understand the life of their families in their counties. For this study, data by a Philippine CFO(Commission on Filipino Overseas) has been analyzed, and the study researcher has attended an educational program run by the PDOS(Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar). Also, in order to understand the immigrants' families in their country, interviews have been done with some of the CFO employees, people arranged to immigrate to Korea through marriage, and female immigrants who are married. First, Filipino females have a positive attitude toward marriage with a foreign male. Most immigrants are from the rural parts of their country, and their families tend to rely on their daughters more than their sons. Therefore, they decide to marry Korean males and immigrate in order to support their families. However many of them do not have enough information about Korea. Second, Philippine's family system is of bilateral kinship, and traditionally, men and women are treated equally. Therefore, Filipino females tend to be well-educated, outgoing, and vibrant. Thus, they can create an active role in married life for themselves and support their family members. Lastly, based on videos and class materials on the topic of domestic violence that are used in the pre-educational programs for females planning to immigrate to Korea, the content of the program is to be revised.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1151-1165
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• 2008

This study examined the current status of consumer competency such as consumer knowledge, consumer role attitude, and consumer skill and the related factors among female marriage immigrants. The data were collected from 220 female marriage immigrants living in Yeungnam region. The results of this study were as follows. First, the mean for consumer knowledge was 5.555, the mean for consumer role attitude was 4.067, and the mean for consumer skill was 3.841. Second, the results of t-tests and ANOVA showed that there were differences in the category of consumer knowledge according to age, educational level, marriage duration period, and Internet contact frequency. And the differences were found in age, educational level. communication with family about consumption and TV contact frequency for consumer role attitude, whereas in age, educational level, marriage duration period, employment status, communication with family about consumption and communication with friends about consumption for consumer skill. Third, according to the regression analyses, educational level was significant for consumer knowledge. Additionally, communication with family about consumption and TV contact frequency were significant for consumer role attitude, and age, educational level, communication with family about consumption and communication with friends about consumption were significant for consumer skill.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.107-127
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to explore how married female immigrants adjust to their lives in Korea. A total of 15 women from three different countries participated in the study. The major issues that these women faced included communication breakdowns with their husband and other family members, financial problems as well as problems with raising children in a different culture. The findings showed that such problems were usually rooted in a lack of Korean cultural knowledge and skills. Additionally, the inaccurate use of the language by married female immigrants who have lived in Korea for longer than six months was often fossilized. For instance, because they usually learned the language in a local dialect, it took them longer to distinguish the dialect from standard Korean. The results found that married female immigrants who received both Korean lessons and family life education instructions overcame their culture shock and adapted to Korean culture more easily than those who did not receive such instructions.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.63-77
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• 2008

This study was performed to develop the basic framework of multicultural art education programs for female foreign immigrants married to Korean males. First, these programs aim to lessen their cultural variance in acculturizing in Korea, and thereafter enhance their emotional stability and improve their creative ability to integrate cultural diversity into family life. The primary objective of this study was to offer a suitable education program and evaluation criteria for the program; the research has been done through person-to person interviews with 53 subjects using a series of questionnaires composed of 8 five-point Likert-Scaled items. As for the process of the interview, the subjects were asked about their satisfaction with each program item twice in order to comparetheir impressions before and after program participation. The satisfaction scores were analyzed using frequency distribution. In addition, the program effects were also evaluated by coordinators and developers from their subjective comments through periodical evaluation meetings. From the results, it is observed that art education programs are beneficial for improving female immigrants' emotionaland cultural integration. In addition, experts determined that the programs were helpful for improving their human relationship and acculturization in Korea. Finally, it is concluded that multicultural education programs are a primary fundamental infra-structural way of integrating diverse cultures and improving communication exchanges, and therefore, improve family stability among the multicultural families in Korea.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.217-232
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• 2018

This study analyzes the determining factors of the digital divide index in married female immigrants based on panel data from the National Information Society Agency (2016). There were 287 participants, all of whom owned a smartphone. The study divided the consumer groups into three age groups: 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49 years. SPSS 19.0 was used to statistically analyze the results. The findings of the analysis were described using frequency, descriptive, cross-tab, ANOVA, correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings of this research are as follows. First, nationality, acquisition of Korean nationality, and duration of living in Korea were significantly different among the three groups. Second, digital competency and online service usage were also significantly different among the three groups. Third, PC usage ability, mobile usage ability, and diversity of online usage significantly influenced the digital divide index in all age groups. Fourth, residential duration in Korea significantly decreased the digital divide index for groups in their 30s and 40s. Fifth, Loneliness significantly increased the digital divide index for groups in their 20s. Sixth, depression significantly increased the digital divide index for groups in their 30s. The study will help to further understand age-related differences and the digital divide of married female immigrants.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.29-42
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• 2012

It is common that most countries focus on the development of their capital cities. As a result, other areas do not develop as well as capital cities. Some areas even develop into a kind of distressed community. This leads to the outflow of population and also difficulties for remaining people in these areas. Under such social background, international marriages are on the increase in rural areas and small and medium-sized cities, causing many problems in connection with that. Many researches on multi-cultural families had been conducted recently, but most of them approached their studies from the viewpoint of social welfare. The physical, economical and cultural environments of multi-cultural families are closely connected to each other. Therefore it is necessary to study these families from a holistic point of view. Therefore the purpose of the research is to study the living conditions and the potential needs of married female immigrants in an in-depth and holistic way. The direction of residential planning for multi-families is also provided. To do that, there are three stages of the research which are theoretical review, preliminary survey and main survey. Methods of literature review, workshop, and questionnaire are used. Based on the results of the research, recommendations for the direction of multi-cultural families residential planning are provided. Physically, living-room, bedroom, kitchen and toilet should be adjusted based on their needs. Socially, the feelings of alienation and exclusion should be reduced for married female immigrants. Economically, it is necessary to find a way to make sure that the second generations of multi-cultural families do not inherit poverty from their parents. Culturally, it is important to consider the different needs of immigrants and to embrace their own culture.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.575-583
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting depression among female marriage immigrants in relation to demographic, family, self-efficacy, acculturation, and physical health aspects. The subjects were 556 marriage immigrants residing in Seoul, Keong-gi, and Chung-cheong areas. 47.1% of the subjects showed $${\geq_-}16$$ of CES-D which is the cutting points on depression. The results from hierachical regression analysis indicated that family income(${\beta}=-.13$, p=.002) at the first demographic model and self-efficacy(${\beta}=-.13$, p<.001), family relationship(${\beta}=-.16$, p<.001), acculturation to Korean culture(${\beta}=-.08$, p=.05), acculturative stress(${\beta}=.31$, p<.001), and mal-physical health(${\beta}=.18$, p<.001) at the final model affected female marriage immigrants' depression. The explanatory power of these variables was 37.1%. Based on these results, social services and policies for the prevention of depression among female marriage immigrants were discussed.