Purpose
This study aimed to identify factors affecting the mental health status of children from multicultural families in South Korea.
Methods
This study was based on Dahlgren and Whitehead's (1991) rainbow model as a conceptual framework and used data from the second phase of the multicultural adolescents panel study conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed using SPSS version 26.0, with p<.05 considered to indicate statistical significance.
Results
In the final model, stress (odds ratio [OR]=0.53, p<.001), life satisfaction (OR=2.09, p=.004), self-esteem (OR=1.73, p=.032), and peer support (OR=1.46, p=.019) affected the mental health status of children from multicultural families. The living and working conditions and general socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental conditions did not significantly influence the mental health status of children from multicultural families in the final model.
Conclusion
As components of Dahlgren and Whitehead's model, individual hereditary and lifestyle factors, as well as social and community networks, affected the mental health status of children from multicultural families. Therefore, in order to improve the mental health of children from multicultural families, efforts are needed to alleviate their stress, increase life satisfaction and self-esteem, and strengthen their social support.

Citations

• Beyond Borders: Exploring the Clinical Journeys of Multicultural Nursing Students
  Lee Jiyoung
  Asian Nursing Research.2025; 19(2): 120.     CrossRef
• Factors Affecting the Life Satisfaction of School-Aged Children with Vietnamese Immigrant Mothers in Korea
  Yoon-Hee Cho, Joohyun Lee
  Healthcare.2023; 11(17): 2465.     CrossRef

Purpose
This study aimed to identify the factors influencing positive subjective health awareness of middle school-age multicultural adolescents in Korea.
Methods
This study used data from the fourth to sixth waves of the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute. In this study, a panel logit model analysis was performed using the Eviews 8.0 program (p<.050).
Results
Socioeconomic status (r=.02, t=2.13, p=.033), body satisfaction (r=.71, t=1.97, p=.048), and depression (r=-.74, t=2.35, p=.018) influenced positive subjective health awareness in multicultural adolescents. When multicultural characteristics were entered into a statistical model with environmental and personal characteristics, multicultural characteristics did not have a significant influence on positive subjective health awareness.
Conclusion
Environmental, personal, and multicultural characteristics were related to positive subjective health awareness in multicultural adolescents; thus, an integrated approach considering those variables is recommended. Nursing interventions and educational programs are needed to improve the psychological status of multicultural adolescents and reduce prejudice about them. In addition, nurses need to be sensitive to multicultural characteristics and the developmental characteristics of multicultural adolescents.

Citations

• Factors affecting the mental health status of children from multicultural families in South Korea: a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of data from the multicultural adolescents panel study
  Sunyeob Choi
  Child Health Nursing Research.2023; 29(1): 60.     CrossRef

Purpose
This study was conducted to explore the child-rearing experiences of mothers with early adolescents in Korean multicultural families.
Methods
The participants were six mothers with early adolescents in Korean multicultural families. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. The main question was, "Could you tell me about your child-rearing experiences with your adolescent child?" The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Results
Four categories resulted from the analysis of child-rearing experiences of mothers with early adolescents in Korean multicultural families, as follows: "separation between myself and others", "distance between myself and my adolescent child", "making efforts to bridge the gap between myself and others", and "trying to connect with my adolescent child closely".
Conclusion
These findings indicate that mothers in Korean multicultural families made many efforts to bridge the gap between themselves and other people, and tried to connect with their children closely. The findings of this study emphasize specific aspects of how mothers with early adolescents experienced child-rearing in Korean multicultural families.

Purpose
This study was conducted to investigate factors affecting health behaviors in late school-aged children from multicultural families.
Methods
This study included 401 children (112 from multicultural families and 289 from non-multicultural backgrounds) in grades 4~6 in 11 elementary schools. Data on health behaviors and related factors (school adjustment, the mother-child relationship, self-efficacy, etc.) were collected from the children using self-reported questionnaires between May and June in 2019. The collected data were analyzed through a univariate analysis and multiple regression analysis.
Results
The health behavior score of multicultural children was lower than that of non-multicultural children (t=3.32, p=.001). In multicultural children, school adjustment (β=.55, p<.001), mother-child relationship (β=.25, p=.001), and perceived health status (very healthy=1; β=.19, p=.011) were significant factors affecting their health behavior and explained 47.0% (F=30.93, p<.001) of the variance.
Conclusion
Multicultural late school-aged children are at risk to engage in a lower level of health behaviors than their non-multicultural counterparts. More attention should be paid to ways of improving multicultural children’s perceptions of their health status, maternal relationships, and school adjustment in order to promote health behaviors.

Citations

• The Moderating Effect of South Korean Children’s Encounter with Children from Multicultural Families on the Relationship between Their Fathers' Perception of Multicultural Families and Their Racial Awareness
  Juan Ouyang, Kyung Eun Jahng
  Child Indicators Research.2021; 14(6): 2197.     CrossRef

Purpose
This study examined the mediating and moderating effects of multicultural efficacy in the relationship between cultural empathy and cultural competence in child care teachers.
Methods
A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. The participants were 277 child care teachers at private and public daycare centers in G and S districts of Seoul. The survey instruments included a cultural empathy questionnaire, a multicultural efficacy scale, and a cultural competence scale. Data were analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS programs. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation, and mediating and moderating effect analyses were performed. Bootstrapping was implemented to verify the mediating effect of the model developed herein.
Results
Positive correlations among cultural empathy, multicultural efficacy, and cultural competence were noted. Multicultural efficacy showed a significant mediating effect on the relationships between cultural empathy and cultural competence. However, there was no moderating effect.
Conclusion
In order to enhance the cultural competence of child care teachers, it is necessary to develop a strategy that can promote their cultural empathy and multicultural efficacy. Furthermore, these results will ultimately enhance the role of child care teachers, thus contributing to the normal growth and development of multicultural children.

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the experience of depression in school-aged children from multicultural families.
Methods
Data from 1,812 school-aged children of multicultural families were collected from the 2015 National Multicultural Family Survey. Logistic regression was conducted based on complex sample analysis using SAS 9.4.
Results
Significant predictors for experiencing depression were lower self-esteem, lower Korean proficiency, less time spent conversing with the father, lower degree of parental interest, poorer school adjustment, greater difficulties with schoolwork, and experiencing violence at school.
Conclusion
This study showed that factors related to the individual, family, and school environment influenced the experience of depression. Based on a consideration of these factors, it is necessary to develop an effective program to prevent depression by establishing high-risk criteria for depression.

Citations

• The characteristics of WM in individuals with depressive tendencies: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study
  Meixiang Yang, Qinling Xie, Wenjing Xiong, Fei Xu, Meina Zhang, Men Wei
  Brain and Cognition.2024; 180: 106206.     CrossRef
• Stress Factors in Multicultural Adolescents
  Mi-Jin Kim, Jin-Hee Park, Sung-Eun Kim
  Adolescents.2022; 2(2): 326.     CrossRef
• The Mental Health of Ethnic Minority Youths in South Korea and Its Related Environmental Factors: A Literature Review
  Yeeun Lee, Minji Lee, Subin Park
  Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolesc.2019; 30(3): 88.     CrossRef

Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the mothers’ native country on influenza vaccinations in adolescents in multicultural families.
Methods
Data were gathered from the 13th (2017) Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey. Logistic regression analyses were conducted using a complex sample data analysis method. The participants in this study had a father who was born in Korea and a mother born outside of Korea. The sample included 481 adolescents.
Results
The analysis of non-adjusted confounding variables showed that influenza vaccination was higher in multicultural adolescents whose mother’s native country had an annual minimum temperature less than 21°C (odds ratio [OR]: 1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20~2.74). Furthermore, when the analysis was adjusted for confounding variables, an annual minimum temperature less than 21°C in the mother’s native country had a statistically significant association with influenza vaccination (OR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.36~3.29).
Conclusion
Multicultural adolescents belong to a socioeconomically vulnerable class, and their health promotion behaviors are influenced by their mothers’ culture. Thus, healthcare providers and school nurses should provide adolescents with appropriate information related to influenza vaccination depending on their mothers’ culture and their family’s cultural background.

Citations

• The Factors Associated with Influenza Vaccination of Adolescents by School Level: Based on the 13th (2017) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Online Survey
  Da Woon Moon, Jae Kyung Kim, Yeon Tak Chung, Hye Yun Kim, Jin Ah Han, Jin Wook Kim
  Korean Journal of Family Practice.2021; 11(4): 263.     CrossRef

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to analyze the mental health and health risk behaviors of multicultural adolescents according to their mothers’ native country.
Methods
For this study raw data from the 11th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey (2015) was examined. Mental health and health risk behaviors for 62,985 adolescents were analyzed according to their mothers’ native country. Collected data were analyzed with the SPSS program using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, to which the complex sample design was applied.
Results
The odds ratio of depression in multicultural adolescents compared to Korean adolescents was 44.92 (CI: 5.77-349.59) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 3.00 (CI: 1.57-5.76) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of attempted suicide was 14.73 (CI: 3.09-70.22) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 8.63 (CI: 3.45-21.62) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of problematic drinking in multicultural adolescents was 7.47 (CI: 1.71-32.67) for adolescents whose mothers came from Mongolia.
Conclusion
Findings indicate that when planning a health promotion program for adolescents from multicultural families, a customized approach should be sought taking into account the characteristics of mothers’ native country.

Citations

• Comparison of Risk Factors for Habitual Substance Use Among Adolescents in Korea by Maternal Nationality: Analysis of 18th and 19th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (2022 and 2023)
  Hyeon Ok Ju, So Yeon Park
  Children.2025; 12(4): 458.     CrossRef
• Mental health and health behaviors in multicultural families: The impact of parents’ cultural background
  Yoora Hwang, Mijeong Kwon, Jimin Kim, Hyekyeong Kim
  Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion.2024; 41(2): 1.     CrossRef
• Applying target congruence theory to victimization risk of students from multicultural backgrounds: A comparison of South Korean, North Korean, and other multicultural family adolescents
  Jaeyong Choi, Nathan Kruis, Julak Lee
  Children and Youth Services Review.2020; 118: 105392.     CrossRef
• The Mental Health of Ethnic Minority Youths in South Korea and Its Related Environmental Factors: A Literature Review
  Yeeun Lee, Minji Lee, Subin Park
  Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolesc.2019; 30(3): 88.     CrossRef
• Effects of the Culturally Sensitive Education of Perinatal Care on Knowledge, Skills, and Self-Efficacy among Korean Husbands and Vietnamese Wives
  Youngmee Kim, Kap-Chul Cho
  Child Health Nursing Research.2017; 23(4): 515.     CrossRef