Jinseok Kim

Leave or Stay? Battered Women's Decision After Intimate Partner Violence

Battered womens reasons for staying with or leaving their male partners are varied and complex. Using data from the Domestic Violence Experience in Omaha, Nebraska, a discrete-time hazard model was employed to examine a womans decision based on four factors: financial independence, witness of parental violence, psychological factors, and the police response to the domestic violence call. Findings regarding the first three factors are consistent with previous findings. However, a negative police response did not deter a woman from leaving, which is a different finding from previous studies.

Early Care and Prekindergarten Care as Influences on School Readiness

Child care is increasingly viewed as an opportunity to enhance children’s development and school readiness, with prekindergarten programs and early intervention programs targeting children at different moments of development. Results of existing research are mixed, and although many children experience different child care arrangements at different ages, little is known about the joint influence of early and later child care experiences. Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort data, the authors estimate a series of regression models, examining the unique and additive contributions of initial child care experiences and prekindergarten experiences on children’s school readiness. The authors find that early use of nonparental care is associated with negative sociobehavioral outcomes; prekindergarten center-based and Head Start care add to this negative association. Early participation in center-based care is associated with enhanced reading and math scores; those relationships are fully mediated by prekindergarten center-based care participation. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Profiles of Disciplinary Behaviors Among Biological Fathers

This study assesses fathers’ discipline of their 3-year-old child. Data are from 1,238 mother and father participants in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Latent class analysis (LCA) of nonaggressive and aggressive behaviors, as reported by mothers, indicated four distinct paternal disciplinary profiles: low discipline, low aggression, moderate physical aggression, and high physical and psychological aggression. Serious forms of psychological aggression directed toward the child were uncommon but may identify those fathers most in need of intervention. Use of nonaggressive discipline was high and nearly equivalent among the parenting profiles. However, child aggressive behavior increased as the child’s exposure to paternal aggression increased, even when aggressive discipline was combined with high levels of nonaggressive discipline. Fathers who exhibited more aggression toward their child had higher levels of alcohol use, used more psychological aggression toward the child’s mother, and were more likely to spank their child.

Body Mass Index and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

Background There are conflicting results about the association between body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms in older adults. The present study examined the relationship between weight and depressive symptoms over time in older adults in South Korea. Methods We used data from three waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging and ran a series of cross-lagged panel models to test the reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity in older Korean adults. We assumed a temporally stable relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity and, thus imposed equality constraints over time. Results After controlling for the effect of depressive symptoms two years prior, underweight older adults had a higher depressive symptom score than those of normal weight. When controlling for obesity status from two years prior, older adults with higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to be underweight and less likely to be overweight than normal weight. The same patterns were observed in data from 2006 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2010. Conclusions These results show that there is a correlation between depressive symptoms and weight status. In middle-aged and elderly Asian populations, depression can lead to weight loss rather than obesity, and underweight may develop depressive symptoms.

Discrepancy between chronological age and felt age: age group difference in objective and subjective health as correlates.

Objective: Guided by the social comparison theory, we examined correlates of the discrepancy between chronological and felt ages in three age groups of community-dwelling older adults: 65 to 69, 70 to 79, and 80 and older. Method: Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study and linear regression models were used to test the hypothesis that age discrepancy would be significantly associated with objective health indicators among those in the 65 to 69 and 70 to 79 age groups but not among the 80+ group. Results: Objective health indicators were significantly associated with age discrepancy only in the 70 to 79 age group, while subjective health perceptions and psychological well-being were significantly associated with age discrepancy in all age groups. Discussion: The correlates of the discrepancy in the 65 to 69 age group appear to resemble those in the 80+ group more than those in the 70 to 79 age group. Further research is needed to identify the determinants of age group differences.

Prospective Study on the Reciprocal Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence and Depression Among Women in Korea

This study aimed to examine the bi-directional relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and depression using prospective data. Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) were used to test whether IPV was associated with an increased overall level of depression and with the rate of change over time in depressive symptoms and whether this model of change in depressive symptoms was associated with subsequent incidences of IPV. This study utilized data from 3153 married women who participated in the KOWEPS from 2006 through 2009. The KOWEPS is a panel study of a nationally representative sample of Korean households. The womens responses to multiple questions adopted from the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) were used to create a dichotomous IPV variable at Wave1 and Wave4. The CESD-11 was used to measure the womens level of depression. We utilized a latent growth model (LGM) of depression using IPV at Wave1 as a predictor and IPV at Wave4 as an outcome predicted by the model parameters of the LGM of depression. We found that after controlling for the effects of age, education, social support and income, IPV at Wave1 was positively associated with overall depression levels and negatively associated with the growth rate of depression. Further, IPV at Wave4 was associated with the intercept and the slope of the depression LGM and with IPV at Wave1. The overall model fit the data well. This study indicated that experiencing IPV influences a womans level of depression in terms of its overall level and rate of change, which, in turn, influences the victims likelihood of experiencing subsequent IPV.

Twelve-month prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders among older Asian Americans: Comparison with younger groups

Based on public-use data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), 2002–2003, we examined the 12-month prevalence rates of any depressive, anxiety, or intermittent explosive disorder among older Asian Americans and compared them to those among younger cohorts. The 12-month prevalence rate among older adults, 7.4% in the 60+ group, was significantly lower than those among younger groups. We also found that correlates of mental disorder were not the same among different age groups. Among the 60+ group, ethnicity, work status, years in the United States, family conflict, and social disability score were the significant covariates of a diagnosis of mental disorder. The findings appear to suggest that, compared with younger cohorts, older Asian Americans may have lower reactivity to life stressors and/or more adaptive coping strategies.

Dyadic Profiles of Parental Disciplinary Behavior and Links With Parenting Context

Using data from couples (N = 1,195) who participated in a large community-based study of families, we used maternal reports of parental discipline to examine mothers’ and fathers’ use of and patterns related to aggressive and nonviolent discipline of their 3-year-old child. First, we separately examined mothers’ and fathers’ patterns, or classes, of disciplinary behaviors. Second, we identified joint mother–father class profiles. Maternal reports indicated that the patterns among fathers and mothers were similar, but fathers were more likely to be in the low-aggression classes than mothers; and mothers were more likely to be in the high-aggression classes than fathers. Dyads in which both parents employed high levels of aggressive discipline were characterized by higher parenting stress, poorer parental relationship, and lower quality community context. The majority (81.2%) of dyads used congruent disciplinary behaviors. Discordant dyads were similar to dyads in which both parents were high in aggressive discipline, in that these groups had children with the highest levels of aggressive behavior. Implications highlight the need to target both mothers and fathers with parent education efforts to reinforce positive parenting.

Gender Difference in Relationship between Health-Related Quality of Life and Work Status

This study investigated the association of employment status with health-related quality of life in adult Koreans, as well as the gender difference in the relationship, using a large, nationally representative sample. Using data from the Korea Health Panel survey, we examined the relationship between quality of life measured by EQ-5D and work status among Korean adults. We also tested whether and how the relationship between quality of life and work status differed by gender. Quality of life among working adults was better than among non-working adults. The gap between the two groups was larger among male than female participants. Further, the gender differential effect was larger in the 41–60-year-old age group than in the 18–40-year-old and 61-or-older groups. Being employed has a positive relation to quality of life among adults. Work status plays a more important role in quality of life for men than for women, especially for the working elderly men than working elderly women.

Silent Cry: Adolescent Pregnancy in South Korea

Traditionally, an open discussion about adolescent sexual behavior and pregnancy was taboo in Korea. Pregnant adolescents were publicly stigmatized and ostracized by their peers, teachers, and, sometimes, even by family members. Given this social reality, pregnant adolescents in South Korea have been left alone outside any support system and had to cry silently. South Korean society has been experiencing a rapid change in general. Among those changes were progressive policy provisions to promote the education and health of pregnant adolescents, adolescent mothers, and their offspring. Especially, after the advisory statement from the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea in 2010, the South Korean government and the education system have been working together to secure pregnant adolescents’ access to education, medical, and other crucial services. As well, these government agencies have been making significant efforts to enhance the public awareness about adolescent sexual activities and pregnancy via educational programs within and outside of schools. In order to stop the “silent cry” of adolescent mothers and their babies in South Korea, there are a few recommendations warranting special attention based on this review. First, a primary prevention effort regarding adolescent pregnancy in public sectors including the school system should be accompanied by the same efforts at family level. As the studies of sexual education showed, many adolescents reported the primary source of knowledge about sex was their own parents. A significant effort should be directed to the education of parents and other family members to increase the positive effect of sex education within rather than proximal in the family system. Lastly, much more attention should be directed to meeting pregnant adolescents’ medical needs and welfare of their babies because most pregnant adolescents are typically not financially self-sufficient and often lack a support system.