First-generation Korean Americans Research Articles

Dietary Patterns of Korean Americans Described by Factor Analysis

Objectives: This study tested the hypothesis that the dietary behaviors of Korean Americans (KAs) can be grouped into dietary patterns and subsequently examined relations between major dietary patterns and sociodemographic characteristics.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with KAs residing in Michigan using a mail survey. Of 1,860 questionnaires mailed to KAs in Michigan, 637 (34%) responded and 497 first-generation KAs (263 men, 234 women, aged 30–87 y) were included in the final analyses. A factor analysis was used to identify dietary patterns from a 93-item food frequency questionnaire developed for KAs (KFFQ).Results: Major dietary patterns of KAs were labeled “vegetable/fruit,” and “traditional Korean” in both men and women and “acculturated American” in men and “traditional American” in women. The “traditional Korean” dietary pattern was negatively associated with length of residence in the U.S. for both men and women (p < 0.01). The other major dietary patterns were not associated with other sociodemographic variables examined in men; however, the “vegetable/fruit” dietary pattern was positively associated with length of residence in the U.S. (p < 0.05) and education level (p < 0.05) in women.Conclusions: Dietary pattern analysis can be used to understand dietary behaviors regarding health risks of ethnically different immigrants including KAs.

An Exception to the Exception: Second-Generation Korean American Church Participation

First-generation Korean Americans are characterized by nearly universal church membership and the highest levels of Protestant affiliation of all immigrant groups. However, most second-generation Korean Americans are not church members, and their departure from their parents’ immigrant churches has been referred to as a “silent exodus”. Various studies anecdotally propose reasons for the second-generation departure, yet no in-depth analysis has examined the context of second-generation Korean American church-stayers. The authors present an analysis of the only independent second-generation Korean American church in the state of Michigan. Participant observation and in-depth interviews are used to assess the importance of religious beliefs, inter-generational relations, and cultural factors insofar as they are associated with this church’s membership. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that religious internalization is a significant factor explaining church participation for second-generation Korean Americans.

Elder Mistreatment Among Four Asian American Groups

Using 14 statements, this study examined similarities and differences among four groups of elders (American-born Chinese Americans, American-born Japanese Americans, first-generation Korean Americans, and first-generation Taiwanese Americans) with regard to tolerance for elder mistreatment behaviors, tendency to victim blame, and attitudes toward reporting elder mistreatment. The American-born groups were more likely to be tolerant of verbal abuse, less likely to blame the elderly parents for causing the mistreatment by their grown children, and more favorable toward reporting elder mistreatment to the authorities. The Korean Americans differed significantly from the other three groups: They had a greater tolerance for financial exploitation, were more likely to blame the elder as the cause of the mistreatment, and not favorable toward reporting and outside intervention. Among all participants, tolerance for elder mistreatment was strongly associated with victim blaming and not favoring reporting and outside intervention. The large percentages of “Don't know” and “It depends” responses to the statements among all four groups indicate that these groups are unfamiliar with the problems of elder mistreatment.

Measuring depression in Korean Americans: development of the Kim Depression Scale for Korean Americans.

This article discusses issues related to measuring depression in linguistic and cultural minority groups, using Korean Americans as an example. The article details the process of developing and evaluating a depression-screening tool for Korean Americans. A series of focus groups was conducted in the development stage of the study. In the evaluation phase, 154 first-generation Korean Americans participated in the assessment of the psychometric properties of the newly developed depression scale, the Kim Depression Scale for Korean Americans (KDSKA). The KDSKA showed adequate reliability, validity, and potentially high sensitivity as a depression-screening tool for Korean Americans.

The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City.

Korean immigrants to the United States establish their own small businesses at a rate exceeding that of immigrants from any other nation, with more than one third of all Korean immigrant adults involved in small businesses. Kyeyoung Park examines this phenomenon in Queens, New York, tracing its historical bases and exploring the transformation of Korean cultural identity prompted by participation in an enterprise. Park documents the ways in which Korean immigrants use entrepreneurship to improve the quality of their lives, focusing on their concerns and anxieties, as well as their joys. The concept of anjong is crucial to the lives of first-generation Korean Americans in Queens, Park explains. The word may be translated as establishment, stability, or security, and it identifies a particular concept of success through which Koreans make sense of the American ideology of opportunity. What they seek is not great wealth or social position but rather the creation of their own small businesses as a way of realizing the American dream. The pursuit of anjong is important enough to justify changes in gender and kinship relations, resulting in the rise of a Korean American women-centered and sister-initiated kinship structure. Commitment to the concept has also inspired a different understanding of class, ethnicity, and race, and stimulated new religious ideas and practices.