• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.451-484
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• 2013

This study investigated the factors that influence subjective well-being of immigrant wives in Korea. We initially grouped the factors into 3 categories: personal, domestic, and social. For personal factors, we included couple's age difference, reason for entry, religion, marital duration, employment status, economical status, acculturation to Korean culture, acquisition of Korean language, and ego-resiliency. For domestic factors we included marriage process, reason for marriage, husbands' understanding of wife's native language, husbands' understanding of wife's culture, marital satisfaction, existence of children, head of the household, and parenting efficacy. Finally for social factors, awareness of welfare services and systems, use of public institutions and civil organizations, and participation in social groups were included. We recruited 256 immigrant wives who live in Asan City, Chungnam Province and the data were analyzed by multiple linear regression. The factors that statistically significant were: ego-resiliency, marital duration, acculturation to Korean culture and economic status among personal factors; parenting efficacy, marital satisfaction and marriage process (married without a matchmaker) among domestic factors; participation in self-help group of women from the same mother country, awareness of welfare services and systems, participation in hobby club, and participation in fraternal/religious society among social factors. It is hoped that this paper will yield general insights into subjective well-being of immigrant wives and may help them to develop inner talent and strength.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.47-65
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• 2017

Objectives: This paper aims to identify depressive or stress related symptoms and its associated risk and protective factors among marriage immigrant women in Korea. Methods: The study participants were 490 immigrant wives from '2012 Survey of Foreign Residents in Korea'. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires on socio-demographics, health status, family members' related factors, and other environmental factors. Results: Difficulties on child nursing, finance, family conflict, and experience of physical or verbal violence were significant risk variables to the depressive stress related symptoms. Family life satisfaction, discussion about troubles with Koreans, healthy status, social trust, and discussion about troubles with people from home country were the significant protective variables to mental health. However economic activities were not protective factors but risk factors. Conclusions: Mental Health promotion programs for marriage immigrant women and their family members need to consider the family and community related protective mental health factors and develop supportive system with pre-existing programs and policy modification.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.17-31
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• 2015

Objectives: This paper aims to identify the health related behaviors patterns and its associated factors among marriage immigrant women in Korea, and discusses their application to health promotion strategies. Methods: The study participants were 7,591 immigrant wives in Gyeonggi province who participated in health examinations conducted by the Korea Association of Health Promotion in 2011-2013. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires on sociodemographics, psychological characteristics, health status and health care factors, and health related behaviors. Results: A 3-latent-class model of health behaviors was identified related to 'lack of physical activity', 'abnormal diet', and 'not experienced medical check-up': 'high risk class', 'middle risk class', and 'low risk class'. Most of the participants belong to 'middle risk class'. Country of origin, age, length of stay, number of children, work status, health insurance status, and unmet health care needs were associated with problematic health behaviors in middle risk health behavior class. Conclusions: Health promotion and intervention programs for marriage immigrant women and their family members need to consider the health behavior patterns of physical inactivity, abnormal diet and no medical check-up and develop multiple behavior intervention with pre-existing program modification.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.1-26
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• 2008

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of foreign wife status and social capital on fertility among a group of Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese wives in Korea. Attention is focused on the argument that minority group status and immigrant social capital exerts an independent effect on fertility, apart from socioeconomic and demographic variables. It is hypothesized that the level and tempo of fertility of foreign wives reflect their social disadvantages and the adaptation process. Micro-data from two socio-demographic surveys were utilized to analyze the reproductive outcomes of foreign and native wives in Korea. Results of analyses reveal that foreign wives in Korea tend to have fewer children compared to native Korean women. It was found that a foreign wife's access to social capital significantly facilitates reproductive behavior. Those who engage themselves more in voluntary activities, have more friends in Korea, and possess better and higher-quality social networks tend to have more children. Foreign wives with a high degree of integration or assimilation to the new surroundings were also found to have more children than other foreign wives.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.471-480
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• 2011

Our previous studies have demonstrated the inadequate nutritional status of Vietnamese female marriage immigrants in Korea. Major possible reasons include food insecurity due to economic problems as well as a lack of adjustment to unfamiliar Korean foods and limited access to Vietnamese foods; however, no study has investigated food insecurity among such intermarried couples. This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity in Korean-husband-Vietnamese-wife couples and to determine whether they exhibit an intrahousehold discrepancy regarding food insecurity. A cross-sectional analysis of the Cohort of Intermarried Women in Korea study was performed with 84 intermarried couples. Among the 84 Vietnamese immigrants, 48.8% and 41.7% had food insecurity due to economic problems and a lack of foods appealing to their appetite, respectively. There was a marked discrepancy in reporting food insecurity between Vietnamese wives (22.6-38.1%) and their Korean husbands (6.0-15.5%). Vietnamese wives were five and two times more food-insecure due to economic problems and no foods appealing to their appetite, respectively, than their Korean spouses. A follow-up study is needed to investigate the causes of this discrepancy and ways of reducing food insecurity among female marriage immigrants living in low-income, rural communities.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.101-117
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• 2011

This research is intended to explore the adaptation process for immigrant women and their Korean spouses through a qualitative method. It is aimed at understanding how immigrant women and their Korean spouses have adjusted to their lives in Korea over the last 10 years and how they have dealt with difficulties in the adaptation process. The participants were 15 intermarried couples consisting of a Southeast Asian wife and a Korean husband. They got married through matchmakers and have children between the ages of 8 and 13. The study carried out in-depth interviews. To analyze the interview data, the qualitative software program Nvivo8 was used. The results showed that immigrant women and their Korean spouses experienced confusion at first. They struggled adapting to each other's lifestyles and made efforts to establish harmony. In the end, they made their own family identity as a multicultural family. The study widens the understanding of multicultural families by focusing on both wives and husbands. Also, the use of the Nvivo8 software strengthens the reliability of the data analysis. The results will contribute to providing interracial couples with the adaptive strategies.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.789-805
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• 2014

This study is performed to verify immigrant wives' perceived conflicts with mother-in-laws and coping experiences. In order to understand in-depth conflicts between female immigrants and their mother-in-laws, we selected 8 foreign daughter-in-laws who have stayed over 5 years in Korea. We applied van Manen's phenomenological methods. After the data analysis, 7 fundamental themes were derived and these are as follows: First, mother-in-laws as a prison guard, second, living a conscious life of other's eyes, third, annoying words from mother-in-laws, fourth, treat married female immigrants as invisible woman not as family members, fifth, saying we are one finger which can overcome pains from biting, sixth, mother-in-laws can't let her son go, seventh, not distributing love. In addition, coping behaviors were as follows: they just deal with living a conscious life of other's eyes, making a feeble complaints, accepting it with understanding, resisting the situation, evading and enduring the circumstances. Husband was most reliable supporter and secured hiding place. Her friends were her spirit supporters.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.188-198
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• 2016

This study explored the experience of clinical nurses caring for foreign wives in Korea. A narrative study approach within the qualitative research paradigm was applied in this study. The data were collected using individual in-depth interviews with 10 clinical nurses who had at least 5 years working experiences caring for foreign wives and their children in the Women and Children's clinical setting. The narrative stories of the clinical nurses were analyzed in the frame of culture-bounded nursing care. In the culture-bounded nursing care, ethnocentric viewpoints, acceptable viewpoints, and culture-based viewpoints were identified within the time frame. Significantly, the narrator identified herself as a therapeutic caregiver in the culture-based viewpoints providing tailored caregiving for foreign wives. This study requires cultural sensitivity of nurses who care for the people with different cultural backgrounds. Self-awareness would be the starting point to reach culturally competent nursing care.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2011

As the public is already aware, baby food has a significant effect on a baby's physical and mental health. It is also very important because choice of baby food forms proper eating habits, which will affect health in the future. In particular, recognition of appropriate baby food by the mother or the primary care provider is even more important. Although many studies have been conducted on this matter for domestic housewives, no studies have been conducted on married immigrant housewives whose numbers are increasing every year. A survey was conducted on the recognition and current situation of baby food preparation by mothers living in Gangwon Province with children 6 to 36-months-old. The purpose of the study was to research the level of understanding of baby food by immigrant housewives given that they were raised in different environments with different eating habits and child raising norms. And additional purpose was to provide proper educational material and direction for choosing appropriate baby food. The results showed significant differences depending on the nationality and age of the mother. Moreover, the results showed an insufficient understanding of baby food but a high desire for education, as mothers did not receive enough support from society. Therefore, necessary education should be provided systematically after mothers fully learn to communicate in Korean. These mothers need continuous attention and support, so they can settle in this country as wives, daughters-in-law, and mothers. Moreover, the needed professional education should be provided so that the mothers can learn traditional Korean eating habits and understand differences in the culture and environment between countries. As the selection of baby food forms the basis of future eating habits and the foundation for good health, proper education should be available to establish healthy intercultural families.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.281-290
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate hospital nurses' attitude toward migrant wives, the nurses' cultural knowledge, and their cultural nursing behavior, to analyze the relations between them, and to find the factors influencing their cultural nursing behavior. A questionnaire was given to 161 nurses in two general hospital in S city from April 1 to April 30, 2017. The results were evaluated by the SPSS/SIN 21.0 program. As a result, the hospital nurses' attitude toward immigrant wives scored 2.70 out of 4 points; cultural knowledge 0.51 out of 1 points; their cultural nursing behavior 3.04 out of 5 points. Cultural nursing behavior has significantly positive correlation with their cultural knowledge. Cultural knowledge, religion, and position in hospital were found to be the factors influencing their cultural nursing behavior. These influential factors explained their cultural nursing behavior 20.9%. In order to improve hospital nurses' cultural nursing behavior, it is necessary to provide continuous multi-cultural education to improve their knowledge, and to offer various convergence programs to give them more opportunities to interact multi-cultural persons.