Migrant Mothers' Acculturative Stress and Young Children's Social Skills in South Korea: The Mediating Role of Mindful Parenting and the Moderating Roles of Multicultural Sensitivity and Social Support

초록

Migrant mothers experience high levels of acculturative stress while raising children in a new cultural environment. Such stress can negatively impact parenting behaviors and child development. This study draws on the Family Stress Model and ecocultural theory to examine the mediating role of mindful parenting and the moderating effects of multicultural sensitivity and social support in the relationship between acculturative stress and the social skills of young children (aged 1-7 years) of migrant mothers. Validated self-report measures were used to collect data from 338 migrant mothers residing in South Korea. The PROCESS Macro was used to analyze the data and examine the moderated mediation model. Maternal education, household income, spouse's country of origin, and reason for migration were controlled. The results indicated that acculturative stress was associated with reduced social skills in young children due to diminished mindful parenting, which exhibited a significant mediating effect. Furthermore, multicultural sensitivity and social support each showed significant moderating effects on the respective pathways. These findings suggest that providing mindful parenting support and fostering culturally and socially supportive environments for migrant mothers can enhance the social competencies of their young children.

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