Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry  2015;26(4):279-287

doi:10.5765/jkacap.2015.26.4.279

Comparative Study of Adolescents' Mental Health between Multicultural Family and Monocultural Family in Korea.

Jung Min KIM 1 ; Bo Geum KONG ; Je Wook KANG ; Jung Joon MOON ; Dong Wook JEON ; Eun Chan KANG ; Hyun Bin JU ; Yoon Ho LEE ; Do Un JUNG

Affiliations

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Keywords

Multicultural Family; Adolescents; Mental Health; Depression; Suicide

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: With the observation of factors influencing depression, self-reported happiness, self-reported stress and suicidal attempt, this study compared and evaluated the mental health of adolescents from multicultural families and monocultural families in Korea. METHODS: This study compared the characteristics of adolescents from multicultural and monocultural families based on the analysis of data of The Tenth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey and analyzed the factors influencing adolescent depression, self-reported happiness, self-reported stress and suicidal attempt. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the levels of depression, self-reported happiness, and self-reported stress between adolescents from multicultural and monocultural families. However, suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt were significantly higher in adolescents from multicultural families. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference between the mental health of adolescents from multicultural and monocultural families. Because depression is the greatest factor for suicidal attempt, and violence has stronger relationship with depression of adolescents from multicultural families, further study is needed to prevent this trend.