• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.13 no.10
• /
• pp.290-301
• /
• 2013

This study aimed to explore the effect of the intimacy with social workers on the use of social welfare services of marriage-based female immigrants. Also, this study verified the effect of the quantity of the welfare service-related information as a mediated variable on the use of social welfare services. For this purpose, this study collected data from a total of 304 immigrant women married to Korean men living in City of Busan, City of Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang Province, and the data was analysed by SPSS 21. As the result of study, the intimacy with social workers had significant influences on the use of social welfare services of the married immigrant women. The results also showed that the intimacy with social workers contributed to the quantity of the welfare service-related information. Based on these results, implications of the important roles of social workers and the directions of their effective roles for the marriage based female immigrants to use the social welfare services were suggested.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.519-530
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience in cultural competence of multicultural counselors working with female immigrants by marriage. In-depth interviews, followed by a phenomenological analysis, were conducted on 10 multicultural counselors. 6 themes were emerged from data analysis: facing difficulties due to linguistic and cultural differences, feeling doubts about self and one's ability, reflecting self, putting efforts to learn other cultures and groups, realizing changes, and feeling insecure still. 3 categories appeared from the 6 themes above: difficulties, efforts to change, and change and limitations. Based on the results, social work suggestions for increasing cultural competence of multicultural counselors were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.30-42
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to provide basic materials and assistance for developing a nutritional education program targeting marriage immigrant women, and it was carried out on 86 female marriage immigrants living in the Gyeongbuk region. An average age of the female marriage immigrants who participated in this survey were 28.6 years, and their home countries were the Philippines (32.6%), Vietnam (29.1%), and so on. Exactly 59.3% of subjects had been married for 1~5 years, and 40.7% of the subjects had an education status of less than middle school graduation. The majority of them (65.1%) had one more children, and 51.2% of subjects were a part of a nuclear-family, with the husband's age between 40~49 years old (58.1%). Concern for nutrition label was significantly different according to number of children (P<0.01), period of marriage (P<0.001), and education level (P<0.05). It was demonstrated that a higher level of education was associated with a higher need to learn about nutritional information. Understanding nutritional facts and knowledge was significantly higher among the women with two children than no child (P<0.05), period of marriage >10 years than <1 year (P<0.01), and education level of college & university graduation than less than middle school (P<0.05). Sixty percent of the women surveyed participated in the education program of 'Korean language' as they were in their country, and the most preferred education program was 'Korean dietary life and culture' (39.5%). Regarding participation and educational method, the majority of subjects responded that they wanted to learn nutritional education in a cooking academy or school (52.9%) and public health center (34.1%).

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.66 no.2
• /
• pp.127-157
• /
• 2014

The multicultural family support project provides support services to female marriage immigrants to promote their settlement in Korea and their adaptation to marital life. This study thus investigated whether utilization of such support services is indeed related to positive changes perceived among these female marriage immigrants, and these changes, in turn, contribute to less marital conflict, marital well-being, and hope. Data were drawn from a self-administered questionnaire study in which 558 female marriage immigrants participated through the 36 centers across the nation that provided multicultural family support services based on cultural relativism and a strengths perspective. Results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that utilization of support services, as predicted, contributed to positive changes, and such changes, in turn, were directly related to less marital conflict, higher marital well-being, and hope. As expected, marital conflict was negatively associated with marital well-being, which, in turn, promoted hope. Thus, through these paths positive changes also contributed positively to both marital well-being and hope. However, when the effects of length of residence in Korea and an ability to command Korean language were controlled for, a positive significant relationship between service utilization and marital conflict was revealed. Therefore this paper discussed the ways in which positive functions of such service utilization can be strengthened while at the same time actively addressing the dysfunctional components of such support services.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.133-161
• /
• 2018

Despite the amount of government budget and resources used for female immigrants who married Korean spouses, it has not been evaluated yet whether the services designed for the immigrants are actually delivered to potential users with social needs. This study is an attempt to identify moderating factors associated with perceived needs and utilizing services of the Multicultural Family Support Centers. The National Survey on Multicultural Families 2015 is used for the analysis. Findings are as follows: the immigrant with better Korean communication skills would use the center services more when they have needs; the immigrants who lack skills were more likely to use center services in spite of the needs. Secondly, the more female spouses satisfied with their marriages, they were less likely to use the services; however, the moderating effect was not significant, On the other hand, Korean male spouses' patriarchal attitude was statistically significant. According to the results, practical and political implications were suggested.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.14 no.11
• /
• pp.427-434
• /
• 2016

This study aims to examine which factors affect marital satisfaction among Vietnamese marriage immigrants focusing on the demographic background, social support, self-efficacy, and acculturation related variables. Purposive sampling was conducted for the study and 201 Vietnamese marriage immigrants participated in the self-administered questionnaire survey through Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Chungcheong area's social service agencies. The results of 4 step hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the age of woman's husband(${\beta}=-.18$, p<.01), social support(${\beta}=.61$, p<.001), and acculturative stress(${\beta}=-.24$, p<.001) impacted on the woman's marital satisfaction and these variables showed 58.6% explanatory power at the final regression model. Based on these results, social services and social policies for the enhancement of Vietnamese wive's marital satisfaction were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.57-70
• /
• 2010

I devised a parenting training program in order to help female international marriage immigrants address child behavior problems. The target ethnic group for this study was south-east Asians, in particular Filipino mothers. Two group, each containing 7 mothers, were provided with 8 parenting training sessions. The participants, all with Korean husbands, were already trained in Korean traditional parenting value and positive parenting behavior. To test the effect of this program, pre-, post-, and 6-months follow-up tests were conducted. Resulted showed that the parenting training program improved positive parenting behavior, enhanced parenting self-efficacy, and reduced the children's problem behaviors.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.413-422
• /
• 2010

With the beginning of foreign workers' immigration since 1990, Korea has faced multi-cultural society. At the same time, the number of female marriage immigrants have constantly increased. But the social services for immigrants are not yet prepared. According to the research on the actual condition of immigrants' culture enjoyment, which was done by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea, the most preferable leisure activity of immigrants is 'sightseeing'. So this study focused on improvement of web contents of tourism information to satisfy the information needs of immigrants. Concretely, this study analysed the present condition of the existing tourism web contents, and analysed deeply the web site 'Tourism Busan' for special reference. Especially this study tried to analyse VOD images among web contents of 'Tourism Busan', and provided concrete improvement plan for that. And also this study processed interview with marriage immigrants to provide web site evaluation at the level of immigrants' eyes. As a result of evaluation, immigrants was the most dissatisfied with 'contents quality', and showed lower dissatisfaction at 'service quality', 'interface quality' factors.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.179-188
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to document the dietary behaviors, dietary changes, and health status of female marriage immigrants residing in Gwangju, Korea. Methods: The survey included 92 female immigrants attending Korean language class at a multi-cultural family support center. General characteristics, health status, anthropometric data, dietary behaviors, and dietary changes were collected. Results: Mean age of subjects was 31.3 years, and home countries of subjects were Vietnam (50.0%), China (26.0%), Philippines (12.0%), and others (12.0%). Frequently reported chronic diseases were digestive diseases (13.2%), anemia (12.1%), and neuropsychiatry disorder (8.9%). Seventeen percent of the subjects was obese ($BMI{\geq}25kg/m^2$). Dietary score by Mini Dietary Assessment was 3.45 out of 5 points. Dietary scores for dairy foods, meat/fish/egg/bean intake, meal regularity, and food variety were low, and those for fried foods and high fat meat intake were also low. Thirty-three percent of subjects answered that they have changed their diet and increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables after immigration. Length of residence in Korea was positively associated with BMI and waist circumference. Length of residence tends to be positively associated with dietary changes and obesity as well as inversely associated with disease prevalence. Conclusion: The study shows that length of residence is inversely related to disease prevalence. However, this association is thought to be due to the relatively short period of residence in Korea and thus the transitional phase to adapting to dietary practices. As the length of residence increases, disease patterns related to obesity are subject to change. Healthy dietary behaviors and adaptation to dietary practices in Korea in female marriage immigrants will not only benefit individuals but also their families and social structure. Therefore, varied, long-term, and target-specific studies on female marriage immigrants are highly needed.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.319-326
• /
• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The immigrant population has grown considerably in South Korea since the early 1990s due to international marriages. Dietary changes in immigrants are an important issue, because they are related to health and disease patterns. This study was conducted to compare changes in dietary intake between baseline and follow-up periods. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Two hundreds thirty three Vietnamese female married immigrants. Baseline data were collected during 2006-2009, and the follow-up data were collected during 2008 and 2010. Food consumption was assessed using a 1-day 24-hour recall. RESULTS: The amount of the total food consumed (P < 0.001) including that of cereals (P = 0.004), vegetables (P = 0.003), and fruits (P = 0.002) decreased at follow-up compared to that at baseline, whereas consumption of milk and dairy products increased (P = 0.004). Accordingly, the overall energy and nutrient intake decreased at follow-up, including carbohydrates (P = 0.012), protein (P = 0.021), fiber (P = 0.008), iron (P = 0.009), zinc (P = 0.006), and folate (P = 0.002). Among various anthropometric and biochemical variables, mean skeletal muscle mass decreased (P = 0.012), plasma high density lipoprotein-cholesterol increased, (P = 0.020) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein decreased at follow-up (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A long-term follow-up study is needed to investigate the association between changes in food and nutrient intake and anthropometric and biochemical variables in these Vietnamese female marriage immigrants.