A Study on the Maternal Cultural and Emotional Factors Influencing the Children's Mental Health in Multicultural Families

Mijung Yeom; Soo Yang

doi:10.12934/jkpmhn.2014.23.1.1

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Yeom and Yang: A Study on the Maternal Cultural and Emotional Factors Influencing the Children's Mental Health in Multicultural Families

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2014; 23(1): 1-11.

Published online: 31 March 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2014.23.1.1

A Study on the Maternal Cultural and Emotional Factors Influencing the Children's Mental Health in Multicultural Families

Mijung Yeom¹, Soo Yang²

¹Graduate School, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

²College of Nursing, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Yang, Soo. College of Nursing, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2258-7407, Fax: +82-2-2258-7772, sooy@catholic.ac.kr

Received 29 August 2013 Revised 13 February 2014 Accepted 3 March 2013

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the current mental health status of school-age children from multicultural families and explored the maternal factors influencing their mental health.

Methods

The subjects consisted of 70 pairs of elementary students and their mothers who were registered at Global Children Center in A City and Support Center for Multicultural Families in H County. One of the dependent variables was the children's mental health measured using the Korea Child Behavior Checklist, and the predictors were the maternal factors measured using the Korean General Health Questionnaire, modified East Asian Acculturation Measure, modified Acculturation Stress Scale for International Students, and reformulated Social Support Scale.

Results

14.7% of the children were within the clinical range for total social competence, and 8.7% showed elevated total behavior problems. Maternal acculturation stress, marginalization, and depression were the predictors of the total social competence, explaining 25.0% of the latter. One of the contributors to the total behavior problems was the maternal mental health, explaining 18.0% of such.

Conclusion

The findings indicated that promoting the mental health of children from multicultural families requires comprehensive support for positive acculturation and the promotion of mental health in interracial married women.

Keywords: Cultural diversity, Children, Mental health

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Mental Health Status of Children, Maternal Mental Health, Acculturation, and Social Support (N=70)

Note. Non-response excluded.

KGHQ=The Korean General Health Questionnaire

Table 2

Differences in Mental Health Status according to the Children's and Maternal Characteristics (N=70)

Note. Non-response excluded.

a: Scheffé test (means with the same letter are significantly different),

^†Computer 47.1%, Art 39.7%, Literature 27.9%, Music 23.5% (multiple answers); ^‡Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Congo.

Table 3

Correlation between the Children's Mental Health and the Maternal Variables (N=70)

KGHQ=The Korea General Health Questionnaire.

Table 4

Maternal Cultural and Emotional Factors Influencing the Mental Health of Children (N=70)

KGHQ=The Korea General Health Questionnaire.

Notes

This article is a revision of the first author's master's thesis from The Catholic University of Korea.

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