The Relationship between Family Strength, Social Support and Resilience, and the Psychosocial Adjustment of Children from Multicultural Families in South Korea

Submission note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Public Health to the School of Psychology and Public Health, College of Health, Science and Engineering, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

This research investigated how family strength, social support, and resilience are associated with the psychosocial adjustment of children in multicultural families in South Korea. The study also examined the potential mediating effect of resilience on psychosocial adjustment in these children. Three hundred and forty-six children from multicultural families (aged 10 to 13) and 1,298 similar aged children from non-multicultural families in three metropolitan areas, including Seoul, the capital of South Korea, were included in this research. All participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Children’s Depression Inventory 2: Self-report (CDI2:SR), the Family Strengths Scale (FSS), the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10 items). Children from multicultural families were found to be well adapted, with similar degrees of psychosocial adjustment as reported by children from non-multicultural families. When examining the differences within demographic variables and their relationships with psychosocial adjustment of participants from multicultural families, there were differences related to the mother’s nationality of origin and monthly household income. Children from multicultural families having a mother from an Asian country, and being in the low-income group, principally, reported lower levels of psychosocial adjustment. With respect to the relationships between family strength, social support, and resilience, and psychosocial adjustment, including the mediating effect of resilience, psychosocial adjustment was identified as being influenced by family strength, social support and resilience. In addition, there was evidence that resilience played a mediating role between social support, family strength, and the psychosocial adjustment of children from multicultural families in South Korea. The results from the current research can inform interventions to improve the adjustment of children in multicultural families through strengthening resilience related to the capability to cope with distress. Further, the findings in the present research could inform the provision of the needed support resources for children with school maladjustment and at risk of dropout.