• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.9
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• pp.183-189
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• 2017

This study was conducted to study the effect of acculturation on the permanent resident and naturalized citizens' mental health status. The Survey Data of Foreign Residents in Korea 2012 was utilized. Independent variable was the acculturation level, measured by the duration of life spent in Korea and the level of Korean proficiency. The dependent variable was the mental health outcome. Initially, acculturation showed protective effect on mental health of immigrants. But after adjustment of control variables, the effect of acculturation disappeared. This result does not converge into the general trajectory of mental health status among immigrants regarding the level of acculturation. The experience of discrimination had outstanding negative effect, which suggests policy inception point.