The children in multi-cultural families have been living in various social relationships influenced by them in their daily lives due to the accelerating changes toward the multi-cultural society. The studies on multi-cultural families which have been ...
The children in multi-cultural families have been living in various social relationships influenced by them in their daily lives due to the accelerating changes toward the multi-cultural society. The studies on multi-cultural families which have been actively in progress since early 2000s consist primarily with the research on married immigrant women and multi-cultural couples such as conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in marriages, marital adjustment, parental stress, and acculturation. The intervention with the children in multi-cultural families is in a beginning state, and even the study has accomplished, the studies have mainly focused on the general and negative aspects of the children in multi-cultural families that they have low ego-identity, bullied and receiving prejudice by others, and stressed for they could not acculturate the two different culture and overall developmental performances are slow in cognitive, emotional, linguistic, and social development compare to the children in non-multi-cultural families.
Therefore, this study intended to clarify the bicultural competence contributing to the psychosocial adjustment in the relationship between the acculturative stress and psychosocial adjustment of children in multi-cultural families, focusing on the effect of acculturative stress affecting psychosocial adjustment of them more specifically. I intended to verify in what courses the acculturative stress of children in multi-cultural families and bicultural competence have affected on psychosocial adjustment. To this end, I have examined direct effect of bicultural competence, and acculturative stress of children in multi-cultural families and mediating effect of bicultural competence. Also, I proposed a research model placing acculturative stress, bicultural competence, psychological adjustment, and school adjustment as latent variables. Moreover, I have implemented multi-group analysis regarding gender difference to examine the causal relationship between acculturative stress and psychosocial adjustment of children in multi-cultural families, and whether the bicultural competence has the mediating effect to ease the relationship between them. Especially, this study is to identify how the effect of acculturative stresses affecting psychosocial adjustment of them by gender.
To examine the research model proposed in this study, I have researched 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in elementary schoolchildren in multi-cultural families who born in South Korea, also, one of the parent is Korean and the other is a foreigner in Gyeongsang area. As result of the research, 260 responded, and 201 used for the analysis. The female students were 105, and male students were 96. The 4th graders were 56, 5th were 68, and 6th were 77. The cases which the children with foreign mothers were 182, and foreign fathers were 19. The descriptive statistical analysis, and correlation analysis for the collected data were extracted by utilizing SPSS 21.0. Utilizing AMOS 21.0 statistical program, I have analyzed structural equation model, also examined the suitability of the research model and the hypothesis of causal relationship among variables.
To summarize the analysis results of this study, first, the acculturative stress of children in multi-cultural families had statistically relevant differences among the residential period of the foreign parents, the Korean speech ability of their foreign parents, and the age. Among sociological variables that affects in the difference in psychological adjustment by their sociological traits, the age had the relevant differences statistically, additionally, the residential period and the Korean speech ability of the foreign parents had relevant differences for the school adjustment statistically. For instance, among ages, the children under the age 11 had the highest acculturative stress leve; the children age 12 had the lowest acculturative stress while having the highest psychological adjustment drawing the relevant differences in between. According to the Korean speech ability of the foreign parent, it was appeared as they had the lowest acculturative stress level when their foreign parent had high Korean speech ability; also, the children had the highest bicultural competence and school adjustment level. Regarding the residential period of the foreign parents, statistically, the acculturative stress level of the children with the foreign parents having more than 20 years of residential period was relevantly lower than those with the foreign parents having lower residential period. Also, school adjustment level of the children living with the foreign parents having more than 20 years of long residential period was relevantly higher than those with the foreign parents having lower residential period. By economical status, the bicultural competence of the children ed as having high economical status subjectively was relevantly higher than those ed as having lower economical status.
Second, the four test variables of latent variables of acculturative stress, bicultural competence, psychological adjustment, and school adjustment have measured in statistically relevant level as the analysis result of measurement model.
Third, the suitability of the final model is verified as the structural model is well reflecting the data in a relevantly acceptable level. Also, as the result we had on the descriptive ability of endogenous variables by this structural model through squared multiple correlation, this model appeared as it is well explaining the psychological adjustment, and school adjustment.
Fourth, 5 paths of the 5 direct paths were statistically relevant as the result of examining the path coefficient of each research model. As we observe the direct path, the acculturative stress had impact on the bicultural competence, psychological adjustment, and on school adjustment. Also, it was verified as the acculturative stress had the direct impact on the psychological and school adjustment. The acculturative stress had negative(-) impact on the bicultural competence, psychological adjustment, school adjustment, therefore, it is appeared as the acculturative stress is higher the bicultural competence, the psychological adjustment, and the school adjustment is lower. It is verified as the bicultural competence had the positive(/) impact on the psychological adjustment, and school adjustment, it came to the conclusion as the bicultural competence is higher the psychological adjustment and school adjustment is higher.
Fifth, among 2 indirect paths mediating bicultural competence in the research model, the 2 paths were relevant. Therefore, the bicultural competence mediates the acculturative stress affecting psychological adjustment of the children in multi-cultural families; also, it relevantly mediates the acculturative stress affecting school adjustment. As a conclusion, the bicultural competence is being a protective factor ad it buffers the acculturative stress affecting the psychological and school adjustment.
Sixth, among 5 paths regarding gender difference in research model, the 4 paths were relevant. In other words, it was verified as there is a relevant differences in the path of acculturative stress to the psychological adjustment, the acculturative stress to the bicultural competence, the acculturative stress to the school adjustment, and the bicultural competence to the school adjustment. Regarding the path of acculturative stress affecting the psychological adjustment, the female student have had more negative(-) impact of acculturative stress on the psychological adjustment than those of male students’. Among the path of the bicultural competence affecting school life, the bicultural competence of the male students have had conspicuously high level of positive(/) impact on the school adjustment. Only the acculturative stress of female students had the high level of negative(-) impact on the bicultural competence regarding the path of the acculturative stress affecting the bicultural competence. Moreover, only the male students had the negative(-) impact on the school adjustment as it decline largely when they are under acculturative stress among the path of the acculturative stress affecting school adjustment. However, there was no relevant difference by gender between the paths of bicultural competence to the psychological adjustment.
This study has the implication and conclusion according to the research result as follows:
First, the acculturative stress of the children in multi-culture families experiencing in their cultural environment is being a significant factor affecting psychological and school adjustment. Nevertheless, not only the acculturative stress has the direct impact on the psychological and school adjustment, but also has the indirect impact on it by bicultural competence as it has the mediating effect in the relationship if each between acculurative stress and psychological adjustment, and in acculturative stress and school adjustment. In other words, as the acculturative stress level is lower, the bicultural competence is higher, and as the bicultural competence is higher, the psychological and school adjustment is higher. The bicultural competence function as the protective factor improving the social adjustment as it prevents the psychological and school maladjustment of children in multi-culture families under acculturative stress. The ground data could be provided as it proposed the necessity of utilizing the social stability by subfactors of bicultural competence, social groundedness, communication ability, positive attitude toward both cultures or groups, knowledge of cultural beliefs and values, role repertoire, and bicultural efficacy(beliefs) of multiculture in detail, and by the practical intervention regarding decrease strategy of acculturative stress level to bring forth the improvement in psychosocial adjustment.
Second, it appeared as the bicultural competence role as the mediator between the relationship of acculturative stress and psychosocial adjustment of the children in multi-culture families. Therefore, the children in multi-culture families can reinforce the bicultural competence function as psychosocial protective impact on their stress and difficulties as a personal resource under acculturative stress. Also, it draws the theoretical discussion as a protective factor about bicultural competence, and could function as a starting point of accomplishing the relevant research as proposing the concept of bicultural competence which is the new protective factor nationally. Thus, this study implicates the significance as it proposed a theory that could be utilized connecting with the practice for the improvement of psychosocial adjustment of children in multi-culture families as it suggests the image that actively adjusting under acculturative stress utilizing the bicultural competence as the protective factor.
Third, the study verified the difference of the acculturative stress impact on the psychosocial adjustment between the male and female students. It is to aim the development aspect of bicultural competence and the development of psychosocial adjustment of children in multi-culture families regarding gender in the practical aspect as observing the difference by their gender, made it possible to be utilized as the base data to develop the customized programs by gender, and prepared the preventive program segregated by gender in practical scene by examining the difference between the influence by gender in path.
Fourth, the study has the theoretical significance for it provided the base data empirically proving the bicultural competence theory as studying the children in multi-culture families in South Korea as the subject by first translating The Bicultural Self-Efficacy Scale(BSES) which is a bicultural competence scale. This could be utilized as previous research data for bicultural competence research of later researchers.
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