• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was done to explore and understand acculturation focusing on reproductive health of immigrant women. Methods: For the research sixteen immigrant women were selected by snowball sampling. Qualitative data were accumulated by in-depth interviews and private document collection. Raw data was analyzed following Mandelbaum's conceptual framework. Results: The dimensions of immigrant women consisted of existence: emerging from the new environment in which it was hard to communicate and to get acquainted with others, reproduction: in the absence of learning and experience, reproductive health crisis, parenting: unmanageable burden. Turnings of life involved 'Inconvenience in one's eyes, vent for conflict and tension: pregnancy', 'strange medical care: accoucheur, rapid medical service', 'pain of morning sickness: poor maternal nutrition', 'manifestation of protective instinct for life'. In adaptations, content was as follows. 1) Standing alone as a Korean housewife, 2) Becoming aware of Korean maternal instinct: thirst for education supporting, 3) Rediscovery of family: growing maternal sense of existence. Conclusion: The results of this study show the acculturation process and the meaning of events related to reproductive health in current lives and can contribute to an integrated understanding of married immigrant women in Korean culture.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.143-155
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of psychological well-being on married immigrant women's parenting efficacy. Methods: The participants consisted of 145 married immigrant mothers who were members of multi-cultural family support centers in Andong, Young-ju, Uiseung, and Munkyung cities in Gyeongsangbuk-do province. Results: The main results are as follows. First, the levels of language competence and education were significantly related to psychological well-being, suggesting that the level of language competence as well as the level of education could be main factors for psychological well-being. Further, numbers of children and monthly household income were significantly related to parenting efficacy. Second, psychological well-being was correlated with parenting efficacy of married immigrant women, demonstrating that psychological well-being was the most effective variable for parenting efficacy. Third, self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and personal growth in the psychological well-being significantly predicted parenting efficacy. Conclusion: These findings suggested that we should reconsider the importance of psychological well-being in supporting programs for parenting.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.47-65
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• 2017

Objectives: This paper aims to identify depressive or stress related symptoms and its associated risk and protective factors among marriage immigrant women in Korea. Methods: The study participants were 490 immigrant wives from '2012 Survey of Foreign Residents in Korea'. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires on socio-demographics, health status, family members' related factors, and other environmental factors. Results: Difficulties on child nursing, finance, family conflict, and experience of physical or verbal violence were significant risk variables to the depressive stress related symptoms. Family life satisfaction, discussion about troubles with Koreans, healthy status, social trust, and discussion about troubles with people from home country were the significant protective variables to mental health. However economic activities were not protective factors but risk factors. Conclusions: Mental Health promotion programs for marriage immigrant women and their family members need to consider the family and community related protective mental health factors and develop supportive system with pre-existing programs and policy modification.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.323-332
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify health promotion behavior and contraception in married immigrant women. Method: Seventy-three immigrant women who were married with Korean men were recruited in October 2008. Data was collected by using questionnaires through a personal interview. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, t-test, and ANOVA. Result: The lowest scoring part among health promotion behaviors was exercise. Stress management, eating habits and personal relationships followed. Health promotion behaviors were influenced by the age at marriage, frequency of going out, and health education experiences. Only 35.6% of subjects used contraception. The popular contraceptive methods were IUD, condom, and coitus interruptus. Most subjects got information about contraception from family and friends. 18.1% of subjects had no source of information. The women's education level had a significant influence on their contraceptive knowledge. Conclusion: Programs for exercise and contraception are needed to improve health promotion behaviors in married immigrant women. Nurses are an important part in health promotion. The role of nurses must be expanded in all communities through various intervention programs.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.164-174
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical growth and developmental status of infants and children of married immigrant women. Methods: The participants were 92 infants and children aged from birth to 6 yr whose mothers were married immigrant women living in one rural area. Physical growth and developmental status were evaluated by using anthropometric assessment, and Korean Denver II developmental screening test. Results: Of the participants, 10.8% were below the 3rd percentile for weight, 13.0% for length, 5.4% for head circumference, and from 69.6% to 79.3% were distributed below the 50th percentile on growth charts. Further, 18.5% were classified as having questionable development. Factors related to low physical growth in infants and children were mother's weight and mother's level in Korean language classes. Conclusion: The physical growth and developmental status of children is vulnerable and serious. The study results suggest a need for regular growth and developmental evaluations. Political support is important for these mothers. In addition, there also is a need to develop early intervention strategies to promote growth and development of the infants and children of these married immigrant women.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaulate improvement of marital relationship for immigrant women's husbands. They who play important role have much more resources than wifes in Korean society and establish a happier home through trying to adapt marital relationship. It needs to escape focusing on only immigrant education and program and have to extend to immigrants' family members including husband. The program procedure was implemented for 14 immigrant women's husbands every Friday for 2 hours from Feb, 2007 to Mar, 2007. To evaluating effects of program the pre test and post test was analyzed. The program was operated by researcher, center worker and volunteer who have much practiticing experiences about immigrants. The program of sessions is perception of intermarriage, understanding of wife's country culture, open communication, conflict resolution and child rearing attitude. As the results of the analysis, there were significant differences of the increases in the area of perception of intermarriage, open communication and child rearing attitude. Finally, this study suggests that understanding of wife's country culture and conflict resolution of the program be modified by future social work practitioners and researchers in order to make the program more effective.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.255-265
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• 2010

Purpose: This study's aim was to investigate participation in Pap smear screening among married immigrant women and their behavior and its related factors. Methods: A survey was conducted among 165 married immigrant women in Gyeongsangnam-do from January 1 to March 20, 2010. Results: Results in this study showed that 51.5% have never participated in Pap Smear screening. Among those who have participated in the Pap Smear screening, 10.9% had regular screening, while 37.6% had irregular screening. Pap smear screening behavior was significantly different according to the experiences in health checkup ($x^2$=34.009, p<.001)', whether or not there was a hospital the woman regularly visited ($x^2$=7.768, p=.021) and perceived barriers (F=3.214, p=.043). Conclusion: For improvement of Pap smear participation, this study proposes to develop various nursing intervention programs which can improve perceived barriers in regards to the related variables. In addition, it is necessary to come up with a strategy to advertise the participation in Pap smear screening in a systematic and continuous manner in order to raise womens' awareness and to make married immigrant women realize the importance of regular Pap smear screenings.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.198-210
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was to develop a health promotion program for marriage immigrant women and to evaluate its efficacy. Methods: The health promotion program was comprised of eight 100-minute weekly sessions. Each session included understanding of health responsibility, nutrition, physical activity, interpersonal relations, stress management, and self actualization. The research was conducted under the principles of nonequivalent control group pretest-post test design. The outcome variables were health promoting behavior, health status, acculturation, self efficacy, and perceived barrier. The participants were 15 immigrant women in the experimental group and 16 in the control group. Data was analyzed using ${\chi}^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, Mann Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: There was a significant improvement in health promoting behaviors (U=-3.08, p=.002), left shoulder flexibility (U=-3.02, p=.003), right shoulder flexibility (U=-3.02, p=.003), low back flexibility (U=-3.37, p=.001), social health status (U=-3.38 p=.001) and subjective health status (U=-2.17 p=.030) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion: The health promotion program for marriage immigrant women was an effective intervention for improving health promoting behavior, physical health status, social health, and subjective health status. Therefore, the developed health promotion program needs to be applied to married immigrant women in other kinds nursing care settings in future research.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.39-47
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• 2017

Purpose - This study investigated xenophobia that has been a serious social problem, and classified multi-cultural groups in Korea into married immigrant, foreign labor workers and foreign students studying in Korea to examine the effects of fixed idea on multi-cultural persons, multi-cultural education experience, multi-cultural sensitivity, good feeling on multi-cultural persons upon social distance with multi-cultural persons, and to find out counteractions and cultural capacity on the xenophobia. Research design, data, and methodology - The study classified multi-cultural persons into married women immigrant, foreign labor worker, and foreign students studying in Korea to examine the effects of their thoughts on cultural cognition. Self-administered questionnaire was used. The subject was college students in Gyeonggi, Gyeongnam and Chungcheong with industrial complexes, more married women immigrants and more foreign students studying in Korea. Results - As shown in the findings, Korean people had different emotion and preference on married immigrant or foreign students studying in Korea and foreign labor workers. Conclusions - This study investigated the effect of multi-cultural person's cultural distance upon xenophobia. Different preference to multi-cultural persons depending upon fixed idea might produce xenophobia, so that the government was demanded to establish various kinds of policies of lives to live life together with immigrant at government level.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.49-57
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• 2018

Purpose - This paper explores the perceptions held by native grocery shop-owners of their foreign counterparts to ascertain if there are lessons to be shared especially regarding operational/survival strategies. Research design, data and methodology - A questionnaire was used to collect data from 121 subjects who were purposively selected. The data was processed and analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) software. Results - The study found that native South Africans hold the perception that immigrants have operational advantage over them. The study also found that with bulk buying, immigrants' stores stock a larger variety of groceries while their items are sold cheaper. It is also arguable from the standpoint of the findings that immigrant grocery store owners avoid expensive lifestyles which often is common among natives who own informal grocery shops. Conclusions - It is the position of this paper that adopting the strategies utilized by immigrant entrepreneurs, informal grocery shops owned by native South Africans are likely to see an improvement in their township-based grocery stores. A major merit of this study beyond its novelty is its potential to advance learnership and collaboration between immigrant entrepreneurs and their native counterparts.