Emotional Characteristics of Adolescents in Monocultural and Multicultural Families in Korea

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to compare the smoking behaviors in adolescents from monocultural and multicultural families and to evaluate the associations between their smoking behavior and number of suicide attempts. Methods: The data used in this study was collected from The Tenth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The differences in the sociodemographic characteristics between the adolescents in the multicultural and monocultural families were analyzed through the χ 2-test, and a logistic regression was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the smoking behavior and number of suicide attempts of the adolescents in multicultural families. The process involved an analysis using a complex sample design. Results: There was significant difference in the weighted rates of the current smoking behavior (13.3% vs. 8.4%, p＜0.001), experience of violence (6.8% vs. 2.3%, p＜0.001), and number of suicide attempts (5.4% vs. 2.7%, p＜0.001) between the adolescents from the multicultural and monocultural families. In both groups, the current smoking behavior was associated with the number of suicide attempts (multicultural families OR=6.5, p=0.005; monocultural families OR=1.5, p＜0.001). Conclusion: Our results showed that the percentage of current smokers in the adolescents from multicultural families was higher than that in the monocultural families and that current smoking behavior is related to the number of suicide attempts in both groups, after adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic status, academic achievement, current smoking behavior, depressive mood and experience of violence.

The Mental Health of Ethnic Minority Youths in South Korea and Its Related Environmental Factors: A Literature Review

“…For more lethal symptoms, such as history of suicide attempts and hospitalization after a suicide attempt, the risk is two to three times higher among MY than among nativeborn adolescents, although a similar result was not obtained for suicidal ideations/plans [10,12,19]. This suggests that despite the lack of difference in the prevalence of suicidal ideations/plans between MY and NKRY, MY are more likely to attempt suicide, which warrants special attention.…”

“…Case-control studies that compared internalizing problems in MY, notably, depression and anxiety symptoms, with those of NKRY, showed variations in relative prevalence or severity. No significant difference was noted in reports on the prevalence and severity of internalizing symptoms including depressive and anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation [9][10][11][12]. In other studies, however, the prevalence or severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms and suicidal behaviors among MY was high [13][14][15][16], even after adjusting for other sociodemographic variables [17,18].…”

“…For adolescent MY, studies have focused more on delinquent behaviors. In general, MY display a high rate of smoking or substance use [9,10,17,18], but behaviors differ as a function of the multicultural family type. Compared with native-born adolescents, MY with foreignborn fathers or foreign-born parents were more likely to smoke or use drugs.…”

Comparative Study of Mental Health States Among Adolescents in Multicultural Versus Monocultural Families, Using the 13th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey, 2017

“…However, we consider different risk factors for suicide behavior among multicultural adolescents. First, low Korean language competence, especially in reading and writing, due to lack of mutual feedback by non-fluent parents negatively influence learning and personal relationships, and this low language competence causes stress, depression, and anxiety (16). Second, differences in outward appearance from the major population, especially in a homogenous nation like Korea, may cause bullying among kids in school, and its self-recognition can lead to poor school adjustment (16).…”

“…First, low Korean language competence, especially in reading and writing, due to lack of mutual feedback by non-fluent parents negatively influence learning and personal relationships, and this low language competence causes stress, depression, and anxiety (16). Second, differences in outward appearance from the major population, especially in a homogenous nation like Korea, may cause bullying among kids in school, and its self-recognition can lead to poor school adjustment (16). A study reported that 15.7% of teenagers with multicultural backgrounds had experienced teasing, bullying, or discrimination by their friends because of their foreign parents or for no specific reasons (17).…”