• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.653-662
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was to identify the health status and reported resilience according to acculturation type among Chinese students in Korea. Methods: The subjects were 386 Chinese students studying in three universities in Chungnam province. The data were collected by standardized questionnaires and SPSS/WIN 15.0 program was used to analyze the data with descriptive statistics, Chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA. Results: Subjects reported the following Acculturation type: integration (26.7%), assimilation (28.5%), separation (32.4%), and marginalization (12.4%). The reported resilience was significantly different according to economic status. The health status was significantly different according to religion and economic status. Acculturation type was significantly different according to age, educational level, length of stay, type of residency and economic status working style. The health status and resilience were significantly different according to acculturation type. Conclusion: The findings suggest that integration of acculturation type is most useful to health status and resilience among Chinese students in Korea. Future studies need to examine acculturation type as coping strategy for foreign students' adaptation.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2003

Over the past few decades, changes in patterns of behavior (e.g., diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity) have led to major changes in health status, characterized by increases in obesity, Type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. This epidemiologic transition is largely the result of rapid increases in immigration to developed countries and rural-urban migration within developing countries, which is usually accompanied by environmental and lifestyle changes. In particular, adoption of “Western” dietary patterns, which tend to be high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables, is of concern since diet is a potent contributor to chronic disease risk. However, until recently, the process by which immigrants and rural-urban migrants adopt the dietary practices predominant in their new environments, known as dietary acculturation, has received very little research attention. Dietary acculturation is multidimensional, dynamic, and complex, and varies considerably depending on a variety of personal, cultural, and environmental characteristics. Therefore, to intervene successfully on the negative aspects of dietary acculturation, it is important to understand the process and identify factors that predispose and enable it to occur. The purpose of this article is to provide a practical model for understanding and investigating the effect of dietary acculturation on food and nutrient intake. Thus, this report 1) gives an overview of acculturation, 2) defines dietary acculturation and presents a model for how it occurs, 3) discusses measurement issues around dietary acculturation,4) reviews the literature on dietary acculturation in Korean Americans; 4) suggests a paradigm for acculturation research; and 5) offers some recommendations for future research in this area.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2014

This study aimed to identify predictors of acculturation types among marriage migrant women at the individual and dominant society levels. To accomplish this goal, we recruited marriage migrant women from China and Vietnam, classified their acculturation types according to their scores on acculturation attitudes, and performed multinomial logistic regression on acculturation types by entering marriage migrant women's individual and dominant society level factors as covariates based on previous research. The results showed that most of the participants were classified under integration(N=376), followed by assimilation(N=66), separation(N=60) and marginalization(N=48). Lower household income, lower sense of mastery, weaker ethnic identity and lower social support predicted assimilation as compared to integration. Less education, higher household income, weaker ethnic identity, lower family satisfaction and lower social support predicted separation as compared to integration. Finally, as compared to integration, marginalization was predicted by lower sense of mastery, lower ethnic identity and lower social support. This study expands the current scholarship on acculturation by examining acculturation as an indicator of the psychosocial adaptation of immigrants and by identifying factors that predict specific acculturation types among marriage migrant women.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.113-122
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• 2004

This study examined. the acculturation type and adjustment of 914 Korean-Chinese adolescents living in Shenyang and Harbin, China. Adolescents completed a questionnaire consisted of items regarding acculturation, school adjustment, expectation of education, and internal locus of control: The results are summarized as follows: 1) Adolescents in Shenyang spoke more chinese and showed lower internal locus of control than adolescents in Harbin. 2) Adolescents in Shenyang showed more integration and assimilation types, while adoelscents in Harbin showed more separation type. 3) Adolescents in Shenyang showed difference in their adjustment across acculturation types, while adolescents in Harbin did not. In Shenyang, adolescents of integration and assimilation showed higher expectation of education, and adolescents of separation revealed higher internal locus of control.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.243-249
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• 2001

This study investigated how acculturation varies with demographic variables and is related to dietary habits among Korean Americans. The respondents were 162 Korea Americans aged at least 18 years old residing in the Greater New York metropolitan area. The level of acculturation was measured using a modified Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation(SL-ASIA) scale. Acculturation was operationally defined to be composed of 6 factors, which are language, media use, friendship, food, pride, and ethnic self-identity. Each factor in the level of acculturation was identified by how it is related to demographics and dietary habits in the method of correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regressions analyses. The reliability of the modified SL-ASIA scale was high as measured by Cronbach alpha of .92. The level of acculturation was related to place of birth, age, length of residence in the U.S., and education. The younger, the longer they had lived in the U.S., and the more they were educated, the more acculturated. Acculturation could be predictable for 52% of its variance with all demographic variables. Among the 6 factors in the level of acculturation, five of them, language, media use friendship, food, and ethnic self-identity were correlated with dietary habit changes after immigration and type of meals. All 6 acculturation factors could predict 21% of change in dietary habits. the information from this study can be used to describe usual describe usual dietary habits according to various aspects of acculturation to better understand the dynamics among acculturation, demographics, and dietary habits.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.153-172
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to find out cultural differences and types of adjustments made in response to the differences between married female immigrants and Korean men of multicultural families. The data were collected by in-depth interviews with 15 female immigrants and 5 Korean men. The major findings of this study were as follows : The female participants experienced cultural differences between Korea and their country in the areas of living culture, stereotyped gender role, and family's cultural traits. The male participants reported cultural differences in terms of the economic supports provided to the wife's family. The types and strategies of acculturation were as follows : adjusting themselves to the spouse's cultural type, the couple's mutual acceptance of the other's cultural type, and female participants resignation to accept help from their husband. The types of acculturation to the cultural differences based on couples' personal efforts and hard work invested into acculturation and the support from their family and society. The results of the study supported that multicultural families' perception of cultural differences and types of adjustment originited from their own experiences and cultural background.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.123-136
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• 2001

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure(Phinney, 1992) was administered to 179 Korean-Chinese mothers and their 8th and 9th grade children in the Yanbian region of China. Children also completed the Depression, Self-Esteem, and Social Competence scales. Findings were that while there was no difference between mothers and their adolescent children in Integration and Marginalization, more Separation in mothers and more Assimilation in adolescents were found. Korean-Chinese adolescents who belonged to the Integration type showed higher self-esteem and social competence than those of the marginalized type. Children's self-esteem and social competence were highest when both mother and child were in the Integration type. These results support the notion that Integration reflects the most adaptive, while Marginalization is the most at-risk attitude to acculturation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2011

Objectives: A rapid increase in the population of migrant workers in Korea has brought new challenges regarding the possible effects of acculturation on health. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acculturation- and work-related psychosocial factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among migrant female workers living in Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A translated, structured questionnaire was administrated to 156 southeastern Asian female full-time workers living in Korea. Results: About 35% of the participants experienced some type(s) of work-related musculoskeletal disorder(s), which were more prevalent in Vietnamese women than in Thai and Filipino women. Women who preferred to maintain their own heritage and to reject the host country heritage were at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: Acculturation strategy and nationality were found to be significant factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Health professionals need to accommodate acculturation contexts into risk assessment and intervention development for work-related musculoskeletal disorders separately for different nationalities.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.310-316
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of acculturation stage on dietary intake of Korean American women (0=124) living in California and to compare the dietary intake with that of Korean women (0=191) in Seoul, Korea. The dietary intake of the subjects was collected by 24-hour recall method at cross-sectional surveys. Ouster analysis performed on immigration variables (e.g., length of residency, age at immigration, etc.) classified Korean American women into less (0=73) or more (n=51) acculturated group. Acculturation stage did not have a significant effect on macro nutrient intake. However, vitamin C intake was higher in the more acculturated group, while intakes of folate, calcium, iron, and zinc were higher in the less acculturated group. In comparison of three groups (the more and the less acculturated Korean American, and the Korean group), the more acculturated the women were, the less frequently they consumed rice and kimchi (p<0.05). Korean American women ate bread/noodle, meat/meat products, fruit juice, and soda more often and consumed vegetables less frequently, compared with Korean women (p<0.05). For breakfast, Western dishes were preferred in both more and less acculturated groups. Korean dishes were favored for dinner by both groups, even though the less acculturated group ate more Korean dishes than did the more acculturated group. The acculturation measured by immigration variables influenced nutrient intakes, food consumptions, and types of dishes eaten in Korean Americans. Cultural and health implications of dietary acculturation need to be studied in the future.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.125-146
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• 2010

A total of 181 college students(61 males 121 females) with at least 5 years of living abroad (Returnee Group) and another group of 181 students (92 males and 93 females) without extended period of living abroad (Comparison Group) participated in the study by completing a questionnaire consisting of Acculturation Index, Multidimensional Acculturation Scale, Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire, Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, CES-D, and WHOQOL. The results indicated that the Returnee Group, compared to the Comparison Group, reported as good adjustment toward college life in Korea and positive attitude toward the Korean identity, but a higher level of loneliness. When the Returnee Group were divided into 4 different groups on the basis of acculturation pattern, the Integration and Assimilation Type reported a better adjustment to college life, lower depression and loneliness and better quality of life than the Marginalization Type. The Mariginalization Type appears to be the most vulnerable group, experiencing difficulties in all areas of adjustment, and is clearly in need of interventions. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research were discussed.