Migration processes and self-rated health among marriage migrants in South Korea

Abstract

Background Research on migrant health mostly examines labor migrants, with some attention paid to the trauma faced by refugees. Marriage migrants represent an understudied vulnerable population in the migration and health literature. Objectives Drawing on a Social Determinants of Health (SDH) approach, we use a large Korean national survey and stratified multivariate regressions to examine the link between migration processes and the self-rated health of Korea’s three largest ethnic groups of marriage migrants: Korean-Chinese, Vietnamese, and Han Chinese. Results We find that post-migration socioeconomic status and several social integration factors are associated with the health of marriage migrants of all three groups. Specifically, having more social relationships with Koreans is associated with good health among marriage migrants, while having more social relationships with co-ethnics is associated with worse health. Marriage migrants’ perceived social status of their natal and marital families is a better predictor of their health than more objective measures such as their education attainment and that of their Korean husbands. The post-migration social gradients among all ethnic groups demonstrate a dose-response effect of marital family’s social standing on marriage migrants’ health, independent of their own education and the social standing of their natal families. Lastly, we find some ethnicity-specific predictors such as the association between higher educational level and worse health status among the Vietnamese. This variability by group suggests a more complex set of social determinants of health occurred during the marriage migration processes than a basic SDH framework would predict. Conclusion Using a new immigrant destination, South Korea, as an example, we conclude that, migration and health policies that reduce ethnicity-specific barriers and offer integration programs in early post-migration stages may offer a pathway to good health among marriage migrants.

The Role of Social Contact in the Experience of Discrimination: Implications for Subjective Health Among Marriage Migrant Women in South Korea

“…Korea who can assist with adaptation to Korean culture and language (Kim, 2012). Similar to previous studies, more frequent contact with friends from the country of origin did not yield better subjective health in these women (Chang & Wallace, 2015;Lee, 2010). While the findings of previous studies displayed a negative association between contact with friends from country of origin and well-being, their influence in our study was not significant.…”

“…Sociodemographic variables were controlled for in all of the analyses. Previous studies have noted the influence of sociodemographic factors as strong predictors of marriage migrant women's health (Chang & Wallace, ; Yang, ). The current study controlled for sociodemographic variables, including age, level of education, monthly household income, socioeconomic status of family of origin, length of residence in Korea, Korean language proficiency, Korean citizenship status, existence of cohabiting family members of origin, and history of illness during the past two weeks.…”

“…Although previous research converges on the fact that contact with neighbors might be a negative influence on marriage migrant women's lives and suspected the influence of discrimination in the larger society, research that distinctly examines the role of social contact with various groups in relation to discrimination has been scarce (Hwang, ; Kim, ). In a recent study conducted by Chang and Wallace (), the influence of marriage migrant women's social relationships with Koreans and co‐ethnic networks on their subjective health was tested. More networks with Koreans were associated with good health, while those with co‐ethnic networks were associated with poor health; however, Chang and Wallace () did not consider family networks and only included networks with Korean and co‐ethnic friends.…”

“…In a recent study conducted by Chang and Wallace (), the influence of marriage migrant women's social relationships with Koreans and co‐ethnic networks on their subjective health was tested. More networks with Koreans were associated with good health, while those with co‐ethnic networks were associated with poor health; however, Chang and Wallace () did not consider family networks and only included networks with Korean and co‐ethnic friends. As previous studies imply differences in the influence of family and friend networks, the current study will address this gap by including contact with both the family of origin and in‐laws in the analyses.…”

The significance of resilience in mental health promotion of marriage immigrant women: A qualitative study of factors and processes

“…It is imperative that access to professional services is improved to empower immigrant women. The main task of marriage immigrants is to overcome adversities in managing cross-cultural marriage and life in Korea in the first few post-migration years [19]. According to this study's findings, this professional help should be available within two years of migration.…”