The Analysis of Research Trends on Mental Health of Multi-cultural Children and Adolescents in South Korea

Factors affecting the mental health status of children from multicultural families in South Korea: a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of data from the multicultural adolescents panel study

“…In South Korea (hereafter, Korea), multicultural families have been increasing due to the growth in immigrant spouses of international marriages and migrant workers since the 2000s [ 1 , 2 ]. Accordingly, children from international married families began to be born in the mid-2000s, and at this point the number of multicultural children of school age is increasing [ 1 ]. The number of students from multicultural families increased three-fold from 46,964 in 2012 to 160,056 in 2021 [ 3 ].…”

“…School age is an important period in which physical, intellectual, and emotional development occurs [ 4 ], and children's development is influenced by family lifestyles and culture; therefore, it is necessary to assess the mental health status of children from multicultural families who are exposed to the cultures of both Korea and their foreign parents' countries [ 4 , 5 ]. Although Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society, multicultural children are not sufficiently accepted as members of Korean society and experience psychological difficulties [ 1 , 6 ]. In addition, as Korean society emphasizes homogeneity of ethnicity and culture, children from multicultural families have been exposed to prejudice, discrimination, and difficulties in values and identity, showing unfavorable patterns of mental health [ 1 , 2 , 6 ].…”

“…Although Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society, multicultural children are not sufficiently accepted as members of Korean society and experience psychological difficulties [ 1 , 6 ]. In addition, as Korean society emphasizes homogeneity of ethnicity and culture, children from multicultural families have been exposed to prejudice, discrimination, and difficulties in values and identity, showing unfavorable patterns of mental health [ 1 , 2 , 6 ].…”

“…Multicultural children have been found to experience poorer mental health, higher hostility, and more intense anger than non-multicultural children due to their bullying experiences and negative perceptions of multicultural families [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 7 ]. In addition, children from multicultural families tend to express anger in a repressive way rather than through verbal expression, which is closely related to mental health problems such as obsession and depression [ 4 ].…”

“…Children's mental health is important because it affects their cognitive and emotional development and transition to adulthood [ 4 ]. As multicultural children grow up and become a major component of Korean society, which will affect the national competitiveness, it will be necessary to assess their mental health status [ 1 ]. School age is a transitional period of self-growth, where children start to form their self-concept, social views, and values [ 8 ].…”