• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.59-87
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• 2013

The goal of this study is to understand the experiences of emigration to Vietnam for Korean older males through a qualitative case study. The specific research questions are following. Firstly, what do they experience through emigration to Vietnam? Secondly, what are the meanings of emigration to Vietnam for them? Thirdly, what are the contextual meanings of it? To explore these questions, the data were collected through diverse data collection methods including in-depth interviews with seven research participants for eleven months. Each case was carefully examined and summarized in the within-case analysis and major issues appeared in each case were described in the cross-case analysis before the reconstitution of story-telling considering a holistic context on the older males' experiences of emigration to Vietnam. The six integrated themes are 'Motivation and background of immigration', 'Acculturation', 'Social network', 'Meaning of work', 'Family' and 'Spirituality and attitude to the life', 'Perceptions on death'. Finally, the critical results were summarized before indicating limits and implications of this study and then some suggestions for following studies are summarized on the conclusion.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.144-150
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• 2013

Objectives The number of marriage immigrant women has been increasing in the past several years in Korea and their adaptations to the new environment have been an important social issue. The aims of this study were to evaluate the psychosocial and mental health statuses of Vietnamese marriage immigrant women (VMIW). We intended to compare the mental health of VMIW with married Vietnamese women living in Vietnam and reveal the demographic or psychosocial factors affecting their mental health. Method Subjects comprised one-hundred-forty-three VMIW who enrolled in multiculture family support centers in Chungbuk Province and forty-eight women from Vinh Phuc province in Vietnam. Marital satisfaction, domestic violence and social support were evaluated as psychosocial factors, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used to evaluate mental health. Results VMIW had a larger age gap with their husbands but better psychosocial statuses. BDI (p = 0.20), BAI (p = 0.08), GHQ (p = 0.13) scores of VMIW were not significantly different compared to Vietnamese residents. Marriage duration of VMIW affects significantly their marital satisfaction, social support and depressive levels (p < 0.01). The level of domestic violence showed a significant difference according to the educational levels of their husbands, composition of family members and marriage process (p < 0.05). VMIW with older husbands and jobless VMIW had low levels of anxiety (p < 0.01). Conclusion The results suggest that VMIW have no difference in mental health compared to Vietnamese women living in Vietnam which is contrary to general expectations. However, various environmental factors, such as marriage duration, have an effect on the mental health of VMIW. As marriage duration is proven to be important factor on mental health of VMIW, more extended duration of care and interventions are needed to maintain good mental health. Networking system connecting mental health screenings by the multiculture family support center to the local mental healthcare center is needed to care those with poor screening outcomes.