The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of a number of variables such as support of family, self-efficacy, health literacy and perceived health status on the health-promoting behavior of married immigrant women.
Data were collected from J...
The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of a number of variables such as support of family, self-efficacy, health literacy and perceived health status on the health-promoting behavior of married immigrant women.
Data were collected from June 15, 2015 to August 20, 2015 through interviews with women who immigrated to Korea through marriage and living in Province K or who are regulars at the Multicultural Family Support Center for families of diverse cultural backgrounds. After an explanation of the purpose of the research, those who gave their written consent were questionnaire survey.
Collected data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 for descriptive statistics, t-test, One way ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise Multiple regression. The findings were as follows.
1. The subjects of this study were a total of 157 people with the average age being 30.47±6.83 years. Their duration of having lived in Korea was 63.05±50.11 months. Among them, 59.2% were from Vietnam. Both the subjects and their husbands the largest of them being of high school graduates, at 40.1% and 55.4%, respectively. Their perceived income level was given as 'average' by 70.7% of the respondents. Those who said their level of Korean to be intermediate in speaking, listening, writing and reading comprehension were 66.2%, 69.4%, 69.4% and 66.2%, respectively.
2. The average score for the subjects health-promoting behavior was 2.58±.427. Six subscales, stress management was 2.82±.515, spiritual growth was 2.81±.530, interpersonal relationships was 2.79±.490, nutrition was 2.42±.532, physical activity was 2.40±.456 and responsibility for health was 2.29±.515.
3. The average score for the subjects perceived health status was 3.39±.860, health literacy was an average of 25.12±20.99, support of family was 3.83±.700 and self-efficacy was 3.61±.534.
4. In terms of health-promoting behavior in accordance with the general characteristics and immigration-related characteristics of subjects, there was a significant difference in association with job(F=-2.059, p=.041) and duration of stay in Korea(F=3.428, p=.035). Six subscales, for the physical activity, the duration of stay in Korea(F=5.710, p=.004), for the nutrition category, the nationality before marriage(F=4.003, p=.009), for the spiritual growth category, the duration of stay in Korea(F=3.773, p=.025) and job(F=-2.889, p=.004), and for the category of stress management the duration of stay in Korea(F=3.847, p=.023) and job(F=-2.611, p=.010) showed statistically significant difference.
5. In terms of the support of family in association with the general characteristics and marriage-related characteristics of participants, there was statistically significant difference in age(F=4.621, p=.011), educational background(F=2.986, p=.033), the husband's educational background(F=3.730, p=.013) and duration of stay in Korea(F=3.584, p=.030). In terms of self-efficacy, there was statistically significant difference in the nationality before marriage(F=3.113, p=.028) and the listening comprehension ability in self-ed Korean proficiency(F=4.284, p=.015). In terms of health literacy, statistically significant difference was found in age(F=4.996, p=.008), pregnancy experience(F=5.686, p=.000), number of children(F=13.386, p=.000), job(F=2.061, p=.041), educational background(F=3.014, p=.032), duration of stay in Korea(F=18.437, p=.000), nationality before marriage(F=5.408, p=.001), speaking(F=21.862, p=.000), listening(F=25.850, p=.000), reading(F=15.593, p=.000) and writing(F=15.032, p=.000) in self-ed Korean proficiency. Lastly, in terms of perceived health status in accordance with the general and marriage-related characteristics of participants, there was statistically significant difference in pregnancy experience(F=-2.153, p=.033), subjective income level(F=4.208, p=.007) and nationality before marriage(F=9.906, p=.000).
6. In terms of health-promoting behavior, there was a positive correlation with support of family(r=.562, p<.001) and self-efficacy(r=.412, p<.001). Health literacy had a negative correlation with perceived health status(r=-.197, p<.05), while there was a positive correlation with self-efficacy(r=.204, p<.05). There was a positive correlation with support of family and self-efficacy(r=.484, p<.001).
7. The factors that affected the health-promoting behavior of participants were support of family(β=.474, p<.001) and self-efficacy(β=.183, p<.05). The explanatory power of these two variables was 34.2%.
This study suggests that the factors affecting the health-promoting behavior of women who immigrated through marriage were support of family and self-efficacy. In order to promote the health-promoting behavior of women who immigrated through marriage, give useful information and support of the family members are needed. More efforts also should be made into promoting the self-efficacy of women who immigrated through marriage.
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