Purpose
This study investigated the factors that influence parenting stress, including hardiness, parent-child interactions, and social support, to provide basic data for developing a program to reduce parenting stress in North Korean refugee mothers.
Methods
A descriptive study design was used. Data were collected between September and December 2021, and 123 North Korean refugee mothers participated.
Results
The mean scores were 69.42 out of 135 for hardiness, 48.45 out of 144 for interactions, 47.32 out of 90 for social support, and 51.84 out of 90 for parenting stress. The parental distress score was higher than that of child-related stress. Hardiness was significantly related to North Korean refugee mothers' parenting stress. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the explanatory power for hardiness and the number of supporters was approximately 19% for parenting stress (F=6.84, p<.001). As such, the factors with a relatively strong influence on parenting stress were hardiness (β =-.40, p<.001) and having four or more supporters (β=-.27, p=.027).
Conclusion
This study's findings suggest the need to identify ways to increase North Korean refugee mothers' psychological hardiness and encourage them to extend their sources of social support and enhance their style of parenting.

Citations

• Perceptions of newborn care among North Korean refugee women in South Korea: a qualitative study using focus group interview: comparison between pregnant and non-pregnant groups
  In-Sook Lee
  Child Health Nursing Research.2025; 31(4): 221.     CrossRef
• Factors influencing children’s emotional and behavioral problems perceived by North Korean refugee mothers: a descriptive study
  In-Sook Lee, Jeong-Hee Jeon
  Child Health Nursing Research.2024; 30(2): 129.     CrossRef
• Characterizing sociodemographic disparities and predictors of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus among Asian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander pregnant people: an analysis of PRAMS data, 2016–2022
  Mallory Go, Natasha Sokol, L. G. Ward, Micheline Anderson, Shufang Sun
  BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Knowledge, confidence, and educational needs of newborn care among North Korean refugee women: a descriptive study
  In-Sook Lee
  Child Health Nursing Research.2023; 29(1): 72.     CrossRef
• Knowledge of atopic dermatitis and food allergies, as well as health information literacy, among North Korean refugee mothers: a descriptive survey study
  In-Sook Lee, Jeong-Hee Jeon
  Child Health Nursing Research.2023; 29(4): 300.     CrossRef