This study examines the physical and mental health behaviors and healthcare accessibility of women classified as "address-unknown" under South Korea’s Resident Registration Act. Using the JBI methodology, a scoping review was conducted on 13 international studies examining healthcare accessibility among invisible female populations. From an intersectional perspective, the study defines the status of these women as a convergence of gender vulnerability, lack of legal status, and housing insecurity. Results revealed that these populations experience multiple barriers to healthcare, including complex administrative procedures, the financial burden of medical costs, exclusion from health insurance systems, limited cultural competence among healthcare providers, low health literacy, social stigma, reductions in community support budgets, and exclusion from national statistics. Based on these findings, this study suggests policy directions such as decoupling health rights from residence-based citizenship, ensuring access to primary public healthcare and mental health services, utilizing provisional identification systems, strengthening the multicultural competence of health professionals, and developing foundational data infrastructures.
This study investigated the effects of moderate-intensity exercise on reducing stress and depression and improving self-esteem of women in early adulthood. The Korean version of the Perceived Stress Scale (K-PSS) was administered to 60 non-clinical women aged 19-40, and 36 women with relatively high stress finally selected. They were randomly assigned to a moderate-intensity exercise group, a low-intensity walking group, and a control group with 12 participants in each group. Moderate-intensity exercise group showed significant reductions in stress at mid- and post-intervention, as well as decreases in depression and improvements in self-esteem at post-intervention. The effects of all variables were maintained at follow-up. Walking Group demonstrated significant reductions in stress at post-intervention and follow-up, but no significant differences in depression and self-esteem. The control group showed no significant changes in stress (pre-, post-, follow-up) or in depression and self-esteem (pre-, mid-, post-, follow-up). Limitations and directions for future research were discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among psychological capital, meaning in life, grit, and burnout among female care workers and to investigate the sequential double mediating effects of meaning in life and grit in the relationship between psychological capital and burnout. A survey was conducted with 307 female care workers employed at eight long-term care facilities (nursing homes) located in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 31.0 and PROCESS Macro Model 6, including Pearson’s correlation analysis, regression analysis, mediation analysis, and competitive model analysis. The results indicated that psychological capital was positively correlated with meaning in life and grit, and negatively correlated with burnout. Meaning in life and grit were also negatively correlated with burnout. In addition, both meaning in life and grit showed partial mediating effects in the relationship between psychological capital and burnout. The sequential double mediation analysis indicated that both mediation pathways were significant: one in which psychological capital influenced burnout through meaning in life followed by grit, and another in which psychological capital influenced burnout through grit followed by meaning in life. However, the indirect effect was relatively stronger when meaning in life was specified as the preceding mediator. These findings suggest that psychological capital alleviates burnout through a sequential mechanism involving meaning in life and grit, and provide foundational evidence for developing psychological intervention programs and strategies aimed at preventing burnout among female care workers.
The effect of social comparison tendency on SNS addiction tendency is well known, but the psychological process through which it occurs remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to examine whether experiential avoidance mediates the relationship between social comparison tendency and SNS addiction tendency, and whether self-compassion moderates this mediating effect. Data were collected through an online survey of 316 individuals aged 18 to 47, and the significance of the moderated mediation effect was tested. First, significant correlations were found among social comparison tendency, experiential avoidance, self-compassion, and SNS addiction tendency. Second, the mediating effect of experiential avoidance in the relationship between social comparison tendency and SNS addiction tendency was significant. Third, self-compassion moderated the relationship between experiential avoidance and SNS addiction tendency. Fourth, the mediating effect of experiential avoidance on the relationship between social comparison tendency and SNS addiction tendency was found to be moderated by self-compassion. These findings not only revealed that individuals with high social comparison tendencies may develop SNS addiction through experiential avoidance, but also that this pathway depends on the individual's level of self-compassion, with higher self-compassion mitigating the effect of experiential avoidance on SNS addiction tendency. These results provide meaningful implications for understanding clients with high social comparison tendencies in counseling and psychotherapy settings and offer guidance for effective therapeutic interventions.
Food addiction means being addicted to consuming high-calorie foods and is closely associated with deterioration of both mental and physical health. Although childhood adversity has been recognized as a risk factor for substance addiction, research examining its association with symptoms of food addiction remains limited; in particular, systematic understanding of the patterns of food addiction symptoms in Korea is still scarce. Building on prior evidence that food addiction symptoms are especially severe among women, this study investigated the effect of childhood adversity on food addiction and tested the mediating role of negative urgency in a sample of 391 adult women. About 11% participants met the diagnostic criteria of food addiction and results indicated that negative urgency mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and food addiction symptoms. Thus, the more the childhood adversity experiences, the higher the tendency to act impulsively during negative emotional states, and this increased negative urgency increases the risk for food addiction. This study has clinical implications such that an intervention focusing on reducing negative urgency can be effective for those who have an increased risk of food addiction due to childhood adversity.
This study examined whether gender role attitudes moderate the relationship between parenting attitudes and parenting efficacy among couples raising children under the age of six. To account for the interdependence between spouses, the Actor–Partner Interdependence Moderation Model (APIMoM) was employed. A total of 219 couples with children under the age of six participated in an online survey that included measures of gender role attitudes, parenting efficacy, and parenting attitudes. The findings of this study are summarized as follows. First, actor effects were significant for both husbands and wives in the relationship between parenting attitudes and parenting efficacy. Second, regarding partner effects, wives’ parenting attitudes negatively influenced their husbands’ parenting efficacy. Third, when comparing the effects of one’s own and partner’s parenting attitudes on parenting efficacy, actor effects were stronger than partner effects for both husbands and wives. Fourth, husbands’ gender role attitudes significantly moderated the relationship between wives’ parenting attitudes and husbands’ parenting efficacy. These findings suggest that one’s own parenting attitudes play a more significant role in shaping parenting efficacy than those of one’s partner. The results also demonstrate that husbands’ gender role attitudes can influence the dynamics between parenting attitudes and parenting efficacy within the couple.
This study aimed to identify the characteristics of recidivist offenders in intimate partner violence (IPV) cases and relate recidivism risk factors to the psychosocial experiences of victims, thereby providing an evidence basis for victim protection, support, and practice-oriented intervention. The data consisted of 367 court decisions on IPV cases and 52 Crime Victim Impact Assessments. Recidivism risk factors were derived through analysis of court decisions, and psychosocial changes were examined based on victim statements in the Crime Victim Assessment Reports. Results showed that, compared with first-time offenders, recidivist offenders exhibited statistically significantly higher levels of planning, novel aggression, directly communicated threats, offender-related factors, environmental factors, and negative outcomes. Additionally, the recidivist offenders were characterized by choosing relatively older victims and having shorter relationships. Moreover, significant differences emerged across threat-assessment factors, highlighting the importance of identifying offender-related environmental factors. Regarding victim experiences, fear and anxiety about retaliation were prominent, along with deterioration in daily functioning and somatization due to re-victimization, self-blame, and anger toward oneself. Social harms were also observed, including relationship disruptions and difficulties in economic and work-related domains. These findings suggest that IPV risk assessment should integrate relationship variables (victim age and duration of the relationship), threatening behaviors, and offender-related and environmental factors. This study further recommends establishing a multi-dimensional support system that ensures personal safety, includes proactive intervention and restores social support in victim protection practice.
This study aimed to identify key factors influencing the effectiveness of intervention programs for domestic violence perpetrators and to explore directions for improving related institutional frameworks. In-depth interviews were conducted with six intervention counselors, and the data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. A total of 22 subordinate themes were derived and organized into five overarching themes. Perpetrators’ attitudes reflected a dynamic interplay between motivation for change and self-justification, including power-oriented beliefs, addiction issues, and externalization of responsibility. Effective counseling practices involved establishing therapeutic alliances, fostering hope, promoting behavioral and linguistic change, and interrupting intergenerational patterns of violence. Counselors’ competencies included patience, a collaborative stance, acceptance of resistance, and relinquishing “savior” expectations. A relational perspective emphasized the family as a unit of intervention. Institutional tensions highlighted the need for client-centered, multi-layered approaches, improvements in program quality, adaptation to evolving contexts of violence, and integration of judicial and therapeutic systems. Implications and limitations are discussed.
This study aimed to systematically integrate findings from domestic qualitative research on the experiences of survivors of domestic violence in order to understand the structure of violence and recovery processes. Fourteen qualitative studies published in Korea up to August 2025 were selected, and their methodological quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2024). Using a qualitative metasummary approach, 441 first-order statements were extracted and condensed into 40 summary statements, which were integrated into 16 categories and five core themes. The identified themes included the everydayization and control of violence, structural factors sustaining violence, turning points toward escape and changes in self-awareness, support systems facilitating recovery, and the reconstruction of a new life. Frequency effect size analysis showed that emotional threats and fear (64.28%) and physical assault (57.14%) were most prevalent, followed by rebuilding life through work and learning (50%). These findings highlight shared meaning structures and processes of change in survivors’ experiences and provide implications for counseling practice supporting recovery.
This study explored the academic migration experiences of highly educated foreign women studying in Korea using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The study aimed to examine the meaning structures of academic migration from the perspectives of agency and intersectionality. In-depth interviews were conducted with six highly educated foreign women from Kenya, Ghana, the Philippines, and China. Through IPA, five superordinate themes and fifteen subthemes were identified. The superordinate themes were: “Movement as Achievement and Choice,” “Self-Reconstruction through Academic Pursuit,” “Korean Society through the Eyes of an Outsider,” “Selective Settlement within Context,” and “Experiences of Intersectional Positioning and Discrimination.” The findings reinterpret the academic migration of highly educated foreign women from the perspectives of subjectivity and intersectionality, moving beyond discourses centered on adaptation and vulnerability. The study suggests that foreign women should be understood not as a homogeneous vulnerable group but as active agents occupying diverse and complex social positions. By highlighting academic migration as a multifaceted experience shaped by the intersections of culture, gender, and identity, this study contributes to discussions on creating a more inclusive and sustainable environment for international students in Korea.
This study, through narrative inquiry, explored the emotional experiences of career-interrupted women during their career re-entry process and indentified the career constructivist meanings embedded in those experiences. The research puzzles are as follows: First, what stories do career-interrupted women tell regarding their emotional experiences during career re-entry? Second, what significance do these emotional narratives hold from a career constructionist perspective? For this purpose, the study explored their emotional experiences through narratives spanning from “The rcareer interruption” to “The re-entry process and adaptation,” while also investigating their “life stories” to gain a deeper understanding of the participants′ emotional narratives. Futhermore, the career constructionist meanings of these emotional experiences were identified. The results of the study are as follows: <Strangeness: The first steps on the Path of Motherhood>, <Loss: The Loss of Identity and Agency>, <A succession of hesitation and doubt: The path to regaining lost identity and Agency>, and <The Meaning of Work: Recovery of Presence and Women's Agency>. The findings reveal that career-interrupted women re-construct their self-identity through re-entry and regain their sense of presence through the meaning of work, emphasizing the critical need for emotional and relational support. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of therapeutic interventions and practical policy support to overcome the systemic and emotional barriers faced during re-entry. This research is significant in providing a foundational framework for understanding the lived experiences of career-interrupted women and informing future academic and policy discussions.
This study explored how middle-aged women approaching mandatory retirement perceive and prepare for retirement and how they reconstruct their lives. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven women who had long-term careers in the public and quasi-public sectors, and the data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis. The results revealed that the experience of the retirement transition consisted of three domains following a temporal progression: ‘Transition of Retirement Perception and Identity (Early Phase),’ ‘Coordination of Relational Responsibility and Practice (Middle Phase),’ and ‘Reconstruction of Life Centering on the Self After Caregiving (Late Phase).’ Participants began by recognizing the loss of their public self, navigated conflicts between responsibility toward others and self-care, and eventually established autonomous lifestyles. These experiences were integrally interpreted through the lens of Schlossberg’s (2004) Transition Theory and Gilligan’s (1982) Ethics of Care, providing a theoretical foundation for understanding retirement as a dynamic transition within relational and emotional contexts. By illuminating the psychological transition curve prior to actual retirement, this study holds significance in providing a practical basis for counseling and welfare interventions that reflect the unique characteristics of long-term female employees in the public sector.
The purpose of this study is to understand the essence of the psychosocial experiences of married working women with evaluative concerns perfectionism, who navigate life amid multiple roles and high achievement expectations. These women are constantly evaluated in both their professional and personal lives. This study interviewed ten married working women with perfectionist tendencies to understand how they experienced perfectionism and what it meant for them. The interviews were analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method. The study found that the participants perceived themselves as inadequate and unlovable, leading them to disconnect from themselves and abandon their identities to prove their worth. Their struggle to overcome vulnerability and become better versions of themselves was an attempt to gain acceptance from their parents and significant others. The participants’ psychosocial characteristics in their work and relationships emerged as the phenomenon of ‘abandoning their true selves to prove themselves’. They sought to confirm their existence in ways that were acceptable to others, pursuing perfection while becoming disconnected from themselves. This study’s significance lies in identifying the psychosocial characteristics and meaning of life of married working women who have evaluative concerns perfectionism and in providing an empirical basis to be able to understand them more deeply.
The purpose of this study was to understand the process through which middle-aged women overcame marital crises and to explore the growth experiences that emerged during the process. Participants in this study were three middle-aged married women who reported that they had maintained a better quality of life after overcoming marital crises and that the experiences had become significant turning points in their lives. The data were analyzed through the narrative inquiry method suggested by Clandinin and Connelly (2000). The findings revealed four narrative themes: “Reconstructing the self after the marital crises,” “Relational support that enabled recovery,” “Women who change amid unchanging structural conditions,” and “The two women within me who stand holding both wounds and growth”. This study presented the personal, practical, and social justifications of these findings. The significance of this study lies in its vivid portrayal of the martial crises among middle-aged women not merely as a situation requiring coping, but as a psychological journey of transformation that fosters self-understanding and growth.
