Factors affecting cultural adaptation stress by gender among multicultural adolescents in Korea

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Purpose: This paper is a descriptive survey research to identify factors that affect acculturation stress in multicultural adolescents, and provide basic information that can be used to develop ways to improve their mental health.Methods: This study used the data of the 2nd multicultural adolescents panel study provided on December 30, 2022 by the National Youth Policy Institute. The subjects of this study were 1,520 multicultural adolescents in the fourth grade of elementary school and the survey period was from July to November 2020. The dependent variable was acculturation stress, and the explanatory variables were as follows: mother’s and father’s country of origin, region size, home economic conditions, academic achievement, experience of discrimination, mother’s level of education, father’s level of education, and number of close friends. Data analysis involved calculation of descriptive statistics, analysis of differences in the level of acculturative stress and general characteristics between male and female adolescents, and multiple regression analysis.Results: This study found that there are gender differences in significant influencing factors for acculturation stress among multicultural adolescents. For males, factors influencing acculturation stress were identified as regional size, mother's education level, parental support, and teacher support. For females, they were regional size, experience of discrimination, number of close friends, parental support, and self-esteem.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that psychiatric nurses should provide psychiatric nursing and counseling to multicultural adolescents in addition to clinical psychiatric nursing. Various mental health programs should be developed for multicultural adolescents, with a focus on counseling, education, and family therapy.