Immigrant Women In Taiwan Research Articles

Effects of length of residency on the development of physical and mental illnesses in immigrant women in Taiwan: a retrospective cohort study using nationwide data

ObjectivesThe majority of female immigrants who are married in Taiwan often face a variety of stresses, which may lead to physical or mental illness. Yet few studies have validated the...

“Searching for Meanings and Becoming Better Moms”

Abstract This article explores the education-related experiences of Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan. The author adopts a qualitative methodology, utilizing semi-structured interviews, followed by a constant comparative analysis. Three core themes are unearthed: the participants’ learning experiences, the process of meaning-making, and the multidimensional impacts of their education. Key findings include the effort invested by participants in obtaining familial support to pursue their education and the learning challenges posed by language barriers. Furthermore, the pursuit of education is found to extend to deeper aspects of self-identity, encompassing motherhood and empowerment. This article illustrates how higher education can facilitate better employment and enhance societal integration and intra-familial power dynamics for immigrant women. Its impact is not unilateral but spans multiple dimensions of their lives in their host society. The insights gained from this article indicate a need for broader, comparative, and diverse research to understand experiences across other immigrant communities in Taiwan.

Negotiating and Voicing: A Study of Employment Experiences among Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant Women in Taiwan

Applying a sociocultural approach and poststructural feminist theories as its framework, this study analyzed interviews with nine Vietnamese marriage immigrant women in Taiwan to explore their employment experiences in the process of crossing national and cultural boundaries. These low-skilled women labored to accumulate essential capital and struggled to be workers in demand. They accepted the improved employment quality that was affected by gendered racialization. Stable employment empowered these women, and some even divorced to achieve personal autonomy. The results of this study suggest that employment was significant for the daily lives of these immigrant women. Obviously, their prior socialization in Vietnam and the life experiences and economic structure in Taiwan interacted to contribute to these women’s work experiences, and they continually developed agency and a voice to create their positions and life meanings by participating in the Taiwanese labor market. This study recommends further investigation of marriage immigrant women’s identities and voices in the workplace and their expression of sexuality and femininity in employment.

Bi-dimensional acculturation and social support on perinatal depression in marriage-based immigrant women

BackgroundSociocultural factors play critical roles in the mental health of marriage-based immigrant women. However, the effect of bi-dimensional acculturation (“adaptation to host culture” and “maintenance of heritage culture”) and social support on perinatal depression across time was unknown among them. ObjectiveTo examine the effect of bi-dimensional acculturation and social support on perinatal depression among marriage-based immigrant women in Taiwan. MethodsThis longitudinal study recruited 310 immigrant mothers to complete structured questionnaires during pregnancy and postpartum periods. Depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Bi-dimensional acculturation was measured using the Bi-dimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women. Social support was measured by a three-subscale instrument, namely emotional, instrumental, and informational support. ResultsDepression scores increased from pregnancy to three months postpartum, and decreased from six to twelve months postpartum. The generalized estimating equation results showed that lower adaptation to host culture, emotional support, and informational support were associated with higher maternal depression scores over time. Maintaining heritage culture has both positive (from pregnancy to three months postpartum) and negative associations (from six to twelve months postpartum) with maternal depression, further, increased emotional support enhanced the protective effect of adaptation to host culture, but decreased the positive effect of maintenance of heritage culture on depression. ConclusionStrategies should be developed to assist perinatal immigrant women to adapt to the host culture, maintain their heritage culture, and resolve potential cultural conflicts to decrease their depression. Respect for immigrant mothers' heritage cultures should be accompanied by increased emotional support.

The Post-Divorce Adjustment of Vietnamese Immigrant Women in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Divorce is as a common consequence of arranged marriages between Vietnamese women and Taiwanese men. There are many studies focus on life after marriage, but few studies focus on life after divorce. This paper aims to find out the post-divorced challenges and adjustment of Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan. The study was conducted in the Southern of Taiwan with 13 Vietnamese immigrant women with the help of semi-structured in-depth interview. The theory of cultural and social capital was applied to explain strategies in which Vietnamese women used to settle life after divorce. Research shows that divorced women are always influenced by the gender norm, they affirm their role in society more and continue to promote the image of responsible women.

Entrepreneurship Experiences among Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant Women in Taiwan

Since the 1990s, Taiwan has experienced growing numbers of commercially arranged marriages between Vietnamese women and socioeconomically disadvantaged Taiwanese men. Most Vietnamese marriage immigrant women proactively engage in the labor market due to the heavy financial burden of their Taiwanese and natal families. Employing a sociocultural and post-structural feminist approach, this study draws from life-story interviews of 13 married Vietnamese women to investigate the entrepreneurship experiences among Vietnamese marriage immigrant women in Taiwan. These women are pushed and pulled towards creating demanding micro-entrepreneurships based on their self-employed socialization, thereby fulfilling family obligations and achieving career goals. Targeting their host market, these women operate their businesses using Taiwanese customer networks and their institutionalized learning and sustainable resilience while negotiating self-identity. Running entrepreneurships empowers these women, facilitating their self-identity, social integration, family position within the boundaries of gender, family expectations, and business while they struggle with unexpected challenges. Clearly, these individuals and their significant others, homeland culture and socialization, and their life experiences and positions in Taiwan shape these immigrant women’s businesses and their sense of meaning. This study extends the feminist perspective of this topic, focusing on the sustainable agency and sense of competence of female marriage immigrants.

The psychometric properties of the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women in Taiwan.

IntroductionMarriage-based immigrant women are increasing around the world. Although bi-dimensional acculturation is important for immigrant women’s health, the existing scales have mainly been developed for immigrant women in Western countries and hence some items may not be suitable for Asian contexts. Thus, we developed and evaluated the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women (BAS-MBIW) in Taiwan.MethodsThe BAS-MBIW was developed based on a literature review and clinical observations. Bi-dimensional acculturation involves “adaptation to host culture (acculturation)” and “maintenance of heritage culture (enculturation).” The initial scale included two 24-item subscales. The validation samples were 310 marriage-based immigrant women who were pregnant for at least twelve weeks in Taiwan. The BAS-MBIW was assessed and modified by experts. Data analyses included factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.ResultsExpert reviews and factor analysis indicated that the scale had acceptable content and construct validity. The validated scale includes two 19-item subscales, encompassing six domains: language, media, food preference, cultural heritage, social interaction, and shopping and merchandise preference, with good internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is 0.88 for acculturation and 0.83 for enculturation). Acculturation was positively related to local language ability and duration of immigration but negatively related to age at immigration, stress, and depression; whereas enculturation was positively related to age at immigration, stress, and depression but negatively related to duration of immigration, indicating convergent validity.ConclusionsThe BAS-MBIW offers reliable and valid assessments of pregnant immigrant women’s level of acculturation and enculturation in Taiwan. The BAS-MBIW could be used to assess bi-dimensional acculturation among marriage-based immigrant women.

A pathway to negative acculturation: marital maladjustment mediates the relationship between the length of residency and depressive symptoms in immigrant women in Taiwan

BackgroundImmigrant women in Taiwan experience a variety of acculturative and marital problems that result in a mental-health problems. We examined the mediational effect of marital adjustment on the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms in immigrant women in Taiwan.MethodsAll participants (N = 127) were interviewed to collect data regarding their basic sociodemographics, depressive symptoms, acculturation (using language proficiency and years in Taiwan as indicators), and marital adjustment. We used a Sobel test to examine how marital adjustment mediates the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms.ResultsOur results indicated that an increased length of residency exacerbated depressive symptoms (β = 0.62, p = 0.03) and that this relationship contributed, in part, to the mediational effect of marital adjustment. That is, marital adjustment deteriorated with the length of residency (β = − 0.26, p = 0.0013), resulting in the development of depressive symptoms (β = − 0.95, p = 0.0013).ConclusionAlthough the duration of residency may be useful as a proxy for acculturation in the assessment of some health outcomes, our findings imply that it is better to conceptualize it as a cumulative stress when considering the mental health of immigrant women. Marital maladjustment acts as a mediator in this relationship. As such, it is important to provide immigrant families with programs and resources to assist them in adapting to their marriages and to improve the mental health of immigrant women.

Investigating Health Equity and Healthcare Needs among Immigrant Women Using the Association Rule Mining Method.

Equitable access to healthcare services is a major concern among immigrant women. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and healthcare needs among immigrant women in Taiwan. The secondary data was obtained from “Survey of Foreign and Chinese Spouses’ Living Requirements, 2008”, which was administered to 5848 immigrant women by the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan. Additionally, descriptive statistics and significance tests were used to analyze the data, after which the association rule mining algorithm was applied to determine the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and healthcare needs. According to the findings, the top three healthcare needs were providing medical allowances (52.53%), child health checkups (16.74%), and parental knowledge and pre- and post-natal guidance (8.31%). Based on the association analysis, the main barrier to the women’s healthcare needs was “financial pressure”. This study also found that nationality, socioeconomic status, and duration of residence were associated with such needs, while health inequality among aged immigrant women was due to economic and physical factors. Finally, the association analysis found that the women’s healthcare problems included economic, socio-cultural, and gender weakness, while “economic inequality” and “women’s health” were interrelated.

Bi-dimensional acculturation and depressive symptom trajectories from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum in marriage-based immigrant women in Taiwan.

Childbirth may pose many challenges to the psychological well-being of marriage-based immigrant mothers in interracial marriages, who must negotiate bi-dimensional acculturation - adaptation to the host culture and maintenance of her own heritage culture. We examined the temporal relationships between bi-dimensional acculturation and depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum among marriage-based immigrant mothers in Taiwan using the cross-lagged structural equation modeling. This study recruited 310 immigrant mothers, who were examined in the second and third trimesters, and again at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postpartum from March 2013 to December 2015. Depressive symptoms and bi-dimensional acculturation were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Marriage-Based Immigrant Women, respectively. The study found that adaptation to the host culture followed a downward linear trajectory, while maintenance of the mother's own heritage culture followed an upward linear trajectory from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum. All but one cross-lagged path between bi-dimensional acculturation and depressive symptoms was statistically insignificant, though almost all cross-sectional associations were significant. Adaptation to host culture was negatively associated with depressive symptoms at all time points. The association between maintenance of heritage culture and depressive symptoms reversed from positive to negative after 6 months postpartum. Adaptation to the host culture and maintenance of the mother's heritage culture differed in their associations with maternal depressive symptoms. Health professionals should assist immigrant mothers in adapting to the host culture while supporting their heritage culture in the childbearing period.

Factors Influencing Marital Violence Among Vietnamese Women in Taiwan.

Introduction: Marital violence is a global women's health issue. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing marital violence among Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan. Method: A cross-sectional research design was used. Snowball sampling was applied to recruit 250 Vietnamese women in southeast Taiwan. Data were collected through a survey from August 2015 to January 2016. The data were analyzed using a regression analysis. Results: This study found that 70.4% of Vietnamese women had experienced marital violence in the past year. Participants who did not depend on their husband's income and held stronger views objecting to marital violence experienced a higher frequency of violence inflicted by their spouses. Conclusions/Implications: The study findings provide preliminary insight for nurses and a better understanding of the situation. They can be used not only to address the factors of marital violence affecting Vietnamese women in Taiwan but also to design marital violence-related interventions within a male-dominated culture.

Identities as an Everyday Life Strategy: A Case Study of Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant Women in Taiwan

This paper discusses the identity complex of Vietnamese marriage immigrants in Taiwan through aspects of everyday life such as food preference and cooking, vehicle ownership and access, leisure, and religious belief. These are in parallel with acculturation, cultural hegemony, spatial and social mobility, social network-building, social capital accumulation, and the strategy of resistance to the stigmatisation of prearranged remittances. This article also analyses identities as pragmatic strategies for Vietnamese wives to demonstrate their agency, and negotiate and bargain their social places within the Chinese-dominated cultural sphere through conforming to mainstream ideologies and acquiring social capital in the local community. The relationship between happiness and identities construction is examined, too. The methodology is based upon in-depth interviews and participant observations undertaken during ethnographic fieldwork in Taiwan.

Impact of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Health Literacy Program on Immigrant Women’s Health Literacy, Health Empowerment, Navigation Efficacy, and Health Care Utilization

We evaluated the effectiveness of a problem-based learning (PBL) health literacy program aimed to improve health literacy, health empowerment, navigation efficacy, and health care utilization among immigrant women in Taiwan.We employed a quasi-experimental design that included surveys at the baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 6 months after the intervention. The intervention group participated in a 10-session PBL health literacy program and the comparison group did not.Results showed that 6 months after the intervention, the intervention group had significantly fewer ER visits and hospitalizations than the comparison group. The intervention group reported a greater decrease in delaying/avoiding health care due to communication barriers. Although the intervention group showed improvement in health literacy, health empowerment and navigation self-efficacy, the differences were not statistically significant.The PBL health literacy program resulted in fewer ER visits and hospitalizations, and better health care access among immigrant women. Cognitive and psychological outcomes examined in the study appeared more difficult to change.The PBL health literacy program effectively improved health care utilization and reduced barriers to health care access among immigrant women in Taiwan. It would be useful to examine the effectiveness of the program in other populations.

Factors Associated With Drinking Behavior Among Immigrant Women in Taiwan

ABSTRACTBackground: Transnational marriage-based immigrant women in Taiwan have moved to a country where alcohol use is prevalent and they face the challenge of adaptation into a new society, which could influence their drinking behavior. Objectives: To describe the prevalence of alcohol drinking and examine factors associated with drinking patterns among immigrant women in Taiwan. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey and data were collected from June through November in 2013. Convenience samples of 757 immigrant women were recruited across Taiwan. Alcohol use patterns during the past year were divided into abstinent, low-risk drinking, and hazardous drinking based on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Measures included subject characteristics, exposure to cigarettes and alcohol, acculturation level, and perceived stress. Results: The prevalence of drinking during the past year among immigrant women was 29.9% (low-risk drinking 27.6% and hazardous drinking: 2.3%). Multinomial logistic regression showed that women who were employed, who smoked, whose husbands drank, and who interacted with Taiwanese friends frequently were significantly more likely to be in the low-risk drinking group compared with the abstinent group. Women who were divorced/widowed, who had low education levels, who smoked, and whose husbands drank were significantly more likely to be in the hazardous drinking group compared with the abstinent group. Conclusions: More acculturation in immigrant women as indicated by working and frequently interacting with friends in mainstream society was related to low-risk drinking behavior; adversities as indicated by loss of marriage and low education level were related to hazardous drinking behavior.

Is There a Healthy Immigrant Effect Among Women Through Transnational Marriage? Results from Immigrant Women from Southeast Asian Countries in Taiwan.

In this study we examine whether there is healthy immigrant effect among women immigrated to Taiwan through transnational marriage. A sample of immigrant women (N = 246) with original nativity of Southeast Asian countries and Taiwanese-born women sample (N = 201) was recruited from December 2008 to December 2009. Their depressive symptoms, acculturative stresses and family functioning were assessed by a series of questionnaires. Immigrant women had lower depressive scores than their native-born counterparts when other potential confounders were controlled for in the multiple regression model. Our findings suggest that the healthy immigrant effect exists among immigrant women in Taiwan. Although such effect may due to immigrant women is a highly selective population with hardy mental characteristics, it is crucial to improve immigrant women's mental health by helping them to enhance the ability of expressing emotions between family members as well as by mitigating socioeconomic inequality of cross-cultural immigrant families.

Differences between native and immigrant women in Taiwan in factors associated with caesarean section: A prospective observational study

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to examine the association of social support, social factors, and maternal complications with caesarean deliveries in native and immigrant women, and to explore the association between acculturation and caesarean deliveries in immigrant women in Taiwan. This prospective panel study was conducted from August 2012 through April 2014 and included 222 native and 147 immigrant pregnant women in Taiwan. Caesarean rates did not differ significantly between native and immigrant women, including the overall caesarean rate (28.8%, 32.0%), medically indicated caesarean (22.5%, 24.5%), and caesarean without medical indications (6.3%, 7.5%). Results of multiple logistic regression models revealed that maternal complications and household activity support were positively associated with caesarean deliveries. Both native and immigrant women with high levels of informational support were less likely to receive caesareans. Immigrant women who were older than 35 years, had a middle level socioeconomic status, and perceived a high level of acceptance of caesarean in Taiwan were more likely to have caesarean deliveries. Informational support was a protective factor for caesarean delivery, whereas household activity support offered by the family was positively associated with caesarean delivery. Perceived acceptance level in mainstream society could affect immigrant women’s use of caesarean delivery.

Predictors of post-partum stress in Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan.

The post-partum period is a stressful time of change, particularly for immigrant women, but, to the best of the present authors' knowledge, the subject has not been explored. This study aimed to examine immigrant women's post-partum stress, depression, and levels of social support, and to determine the predictors of post-partum stress for Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan. A cross-sectional design was used. In this descriptive survey, 208 Vietnamese immigrant women were telephone interviewed by a trained Vietnamese research assistant during one of their 6 weeks post-partum. Data were collected through telephone interviews using three questionnaires, including the Hung Postpartum Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Social Support Scale. The result shows that Vietnamese women had low level post-partum stress scores. Participants' family support rated higher than friend support. The incidence of depression was 0.5%. Social support, number of post-partum days, and family income were found to be predictors for post-partum stress, accounting for 26.6% of the variance. The Vietnamese immigrant women experienced significant stress regarding their maternal roles and received most of their support from their families rather than from friends. Nurses caring for this cohort should therefore consider these factors in order to help them cope with their post-partum stress. Healthcare providers should offer available resources to these immigrant women and their spouses during this critical period in their lives. For instance, antenatal education classes could be provided to help immigrant women manage and overcome post-partum issues.

Health literacy as the missing link in the provision of immigrant health care: A qualitative study of Southeast Asian immigrant women in Taiwan

ObjectivesLanguage and communication barrier are main contributors to poor health outcomes and improper use of health care among immigrants. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand specific language and communication problems experiences by Southeast Asian immigrant women in Taiwan. DesignThis qualitative study used focus groups and in-depth interviews to uncover the experiences of immigrant women regarding their access to and utilization of health care in Taiwan. ParticipantsEight focus groups were conducted with 62 Southeast Asian immigrant women and 23 individual in-depth interviews with a wide range of stakeholders who had diverse background and intimate knowledge of immigrant-relating health care issues were performed. ResultsDirected content analysis was applied and identified four major themes concerning conditions that influenced immigrant women's use of health information and services: (1) gaining access to health information, (2) navigating in health care delivery system, (3) interactions during health care encounters, and (4) capability of using health information and services. Findings from this study suggest that, without basic language and literate skills, the majority of immigrant women had inadequate health literacy to manage health information and navigate the Taiwan health care system. Interpersonal communication gap between immigrant women and health care providers exists because of lack of health literacy in addition al language and cultural barriers. ConclusionWith limited language and health literacy skills, immigrant women face numerous challenges in navigating the health care system, interacting with health care providers, and gaining access to proper health care. Future efforts are necessary to enhance individual's health literacy and establish health literate environment.

Higher Education Learning Experiences Among Vietnamese Immigrant Women in Taiwan

Based on a sociocultural approach to adult learning and poststructural feminist theories, this study draws on interviews with 11 married Vietnamese women to explore the higher education learning experiences of Vietnamese immigrant women in Taiwan. On the basis of their husbands’ permission and support, Vietnamese immigrant women embraced the instrumental value of education and pursued higher education to play their expected motherhood roles. During the higher education learning process, the women persevered in learning with resilience, negotiated their voices and cultural identity, and fulfilled multiple roles. Participating in and even completing higher education in Taiwan empowered these women through learning based on their bicultural competence.

The Relationship between Citizenship Acquisition and Ethnic Identity of Immigrant Women in Taiwan

The Relationship between Citizenship Acquisition and Ethnic Identity of Immigrant Women in Taiwan