The Effects of Hispanic Immigrant Mother's Resiliency on Children's Dietary Adjustment

Perceived Experiences of Korean Immigrant Mothers Raising Children With Disabilities in the United States

INTRODUCTION

The challenges of acculturation that immigrant families experience could intensify if they have a child with a disability. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to describe the experiences of Korean mothers raising children with a disability in the United States.

METHODOLOGY

Semi-structured interviews were conducted based on the Resilience Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation. Directed content analysis was used.

RESULTS

Six Korean mothers participated in the interview and 16 codes were identified in relation to the five concepts of the Resilience Model, namely family demands, family resources, family appraisal, family problem-solving and coping, and family adaptation. Overall, mothers thought their families were well-functioning and viewed their quality of life positively within the context of immigration despite experiencing various family demands.

DISCUSSION

Findings of this study showed the resilience of Korean immigrant mothers and revealed the importance of understanding and considering unique cultural differences when providing care to this population.

Stress-Induced Eating Among Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States: a Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

Racial/ethnic disparities in obesity may be due, in part, to minority groups consuming more energy-rich diets in response to greater stress exposure. The present study systematically reviewed the literature describing the effects of stress on food consumption among various racial/ethnic groups in the US.

METHODS

PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies reporting associations between stress and food consumption by different racial/ethnic groups, conducted between January 1, 1999 to November 25, 2019. The search included terms related to food consumption, stress, and race/ethnicity. After screening 3660 records, 30 studies were included for review.

RESULTS

The selected studies assessed diverse stressors and eating constructs; African-American and Hispanic/Latinx were the most commonly studied minority groups. Studies generally supported that diverse forms of stress exposure are associated with reduced healthy eating patterns and increased obesogenic eating patterns across racial/ethnic groups. However, studies that directly compared stress-eating associations among multiple racial/ethnic groups showed mixed results.

CONCLUSION

Members of diverse racial/ethnic groups are susceptible to stress-induced unhealthy eating patterns, though evidence is insufficient to conclude whether the degree of susceptibility differs among groups. Additional studies utilizing observational measures of food intake and culturally sensitive measures of stress are needed to identify the most influential stressors on dietary behaviors, to assess whether some stressors are more salient for given racial/ethnic groups, and to examine the extent to which stress-induced eating contributes to racial/ethnic disparities in obesity and obesity-related diseases.