Subjective Spiritual Experience and Mental Health for Korean Immigrants

Background and Purpose: Existing studies noted that Asian immigrants experience mental health issues, particularly with their status as an ethnic/racial minority. Cultural tensions within the family, experiences of discrimination, and limited English proficiency can increase the risks of mental illness among Asian immigrants. Furthermore, Asian immigrants are reported to utilize mental health services at significantly lower rates than the general population and other immigrant groups. Rather than professional mental health services, Asian immigrants rely on informal social support when experiencing mental health issues. For Korean immigrants, religion appears to be a primary source of support. In response, prior studies on Korean immigrants examined the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and mental health. However, they mainly focused on religious attendance and/or activities and did not explore subjective and inner experiences of spirituality. This study investigated the association between subjective spirituality and mental health for Korean immigrants.

Methods: The study conducted an anonymous online survey with 453 Korean immigrants in 2022 and 2023 who were recruited through community centers, social media, and religious organizations. The survey included questions on participant demography, immigration-related experiences, and spirituality, measured by several standardized measures (e.g., Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality or BMMRS). The survey also included items on levels of anxiety and depression: General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The study used correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis as its main data analytic methods.

Results: The participants’ mean age was 40.6 years (SD=9.06). The majority of participants identified themselves as Christian (70.2%), attending religious services at least once a week (39.9%). The results of correlation analysis showed that the participants with lower levels of subjective spirituality reported higher levels of depression (r = - .17, p < .01) and anxiety (r = - .14, p < .05). Controlling for participant demography (e.g., age, gender, marital status), religious affiliation, and immigration-related experiences (e.g., English proficiency, discrimination experience), the experience of discrimination (b= -.31, p < .01) and subjective spirituality (b= .24, p < .01) were significant predictors for participants’ depression levels. Subjective spirituality (b= .18, p < .01) and discrimination experience (b= - .23, p < .01) were also significant predictors for participants’ anxiety levels.

Conclusion and Implication: The study findings reported that subjective spiritual experience was a significant predictor of depression and anxiety levels for Korean immigrants. Prior studies on Korean immigrants’ spirituality mainly focused on religiosity, indicating that it has a positive impact on their mental health. This study expands existing literature noting the significant association between subjective spirituality and mental health for Korean immigrants. This finding suggests that social service organizations serving Korean immigrants pay attention to individuals’ whole spiritual experience when offering mental health services. Future studies should be conducted that further examine factors that significantly influence the mental health of Korean immigrants. Also, the association between subjective spirituality and mental health may be explored for other immigrant groups.