PURPOSE: This study investigated prediction of North Korean refugees' adaptation to the South Korean society and verified the goodness of fit between a hypothetical model and actual data in order to suggest the best model. METHODS: This survey was conducted with 445 North Korean refugees living in a metropolitan area. Data were collected from September 1st to November 20th, 2012, and analyzed using SPSS Windows 18.0 and AMOS 17.0. RESULTS: Traumatic experiences of North Korean refugees increased self-efficacy and psychological trauma. Acculturation stress decreased self-efficacy and increased passive coping. Self-efficacy affected active and passive coping, decreased psychological trauma, and increased resilience. Resilience is successful adaptation and refers to North Korean refugees' abilities to adapt effectively to stress. In particular, self-efficacy as the main parameter affecting resilience was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that resilience can be improved through self-efficacy. It was the most significant factor decreasing psychological trauma and increasing resilience. Therefore, we need to develop programs for self-efficacy. The results also provide basic data for policy making for North Korean refugees.
Acculturation ; Adaptation, Psychological/*physiology ; Adult ; Aged ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea/ethnology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Theoretical ; Personal Satisfaction ; Psychological Trauma/*ethnology ; Refugees/*psychology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Resilience, Psychological ; Self Efficacy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this paper is to examine the social network effects on post-traumatic sdress disorder (PTSD) in female North Korean immigrants who entered South Korea in 2007. Specifically, it attempts to verify if the density and composition of networks make a difference after controlling for the network size. METHODS: A multivariate logistic regression is used to probe the effects of social networks using the North Korean Immigrant Panel data set. Because the data set had only completed its initial survey when this paper was written, the analysis was cross-sectional. RESULTS: The size of the support networks was systematically related to PTSD. Female North Korean immigrants with more supporting ties were less likely to develop PTSD, even after controlling for other risk factors (odds-ratio for one more tie was 0.8). However, once we control for the size of the network, neither the density nor the composition of the networks remains statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of the PTSD among female North Korean immigrants is alarmingly high, and regardless of the characteristics of supporting network members, the size of the supporting networks provides substantial protection. This implies that a simple strategy that focuses on increasing the number of supporting ties will be effective among North Korean immigrants who entered South Korea in recent years.
Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Emigrants and Immigrants/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Life Change Events ; Logistic Models ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; *Social Support ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis/ethnology/*psychology