Parenting Efficacy and Health-promoting Behaviors for Children of Mothers from Native and Multicultural Families in Korea

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the levels of parenting efficacy and health-promoting behaviors for children of mothers, and to explore the relationships between parenting efficacy and the behaviors of mothers from native and multicultural families in South Korea. METHODS: Data was collected by a self-report questionnaire completed by 258 mothers who had 6-month to 36-month-old children attending kindergartens or multicultural family support centers located in Seoul and in Gyeounggi Province, South Korea. RESULTS: No significant difference in parenting efficacy was found, depending on the maternal country of origin. However, Chinese mothers performed health-promoting behaviors more frequently for their children than Korean and Vietnamese mothers did (F = 6.87, p < .001). The significant positive correlations between parenting efficacy and maternal health-promoting behaviors for children were found, regardless of maternal country of origin (r = .57, p < .001 for Korean, r = .42, p < .001 for Chinese, and r= .40, p < .001 for Vietnamese mothers). CONCLUSIONS: Since maternal health-promoting behaviors were different depending on the native country of the mothers, maternal country of origin should be considered in designing programs for improving maternal health-promoting behaviors for their children. In addition, increasing the level of parenting efficacy can be an effective way for improvement of maternal health-promoting behaviors.