Mental Health and Health Risk Behaviors of Multicultural Adolescents according to Their Mothers' Native Country: Using Data from the 11th (2015) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey 2015

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the mental health and health risk behaviors of multicultural adolescents according to their mothers’ native country. Methods: For this study raw data from the 11th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey (2015) was examined. Mental health and health risk behaviors for 62,985 adolescents were analyzed according to their mothers’ native country. Collected data were analyzed with the SPSS program using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, to which the complex sample design was applied. Results: The odds ratio of depression in multicultural adolescents compared to Korean adolescents was 44.92 (CI: 5.77-349.59) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 3.00 (CI: 1.57-5.76) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of attempted suicide was 14.73 (CI: 3.09-70.22) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 8.63 (CI: 3.45-21.62) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of problematic drinking in multicultural adolescents was 7.47 (CI: 1.71-32.67) for adolescents whose mothers came from Mongolia. Conclusion: Findings indicate that when planning a health promotion program for adolescents from multicultural families, a customized approach should be sought taking into account the characteristics of mothers’ native country.