J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs.  2009 Mar;20(1):67-74.

The Relation between Social Support and Loneliness in Migrant Workers

• Lee SH
• Kim SJ
• Lee YJ
• Kim SY

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual condition of social support and loneliness and to examine of the relation between social support and loneliness in migrant workers.
METHODS
One hundred and thirty migrant workers were sampled from two churches located at Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in order to collect basic data onmigrant workers from August to December, 2007 using a questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA test.
RESULTS
1) The average scores of social support and loneliness were 3.73 +/- 0.31 and 2.57 +/- 0.31, respectively. 2) With respect to the general characteristics of subjects, there was no statistically significant difference in social support, but there was a significant difference in loneliness according to religion (t=2.586, p=.001). 3) The correlation coefficient between social support and loneliness was not significant (r=-.010, p=.929).
CONCLUSION
Social support should be considered in nursing intervention to decrease the level of loneliness in migrant workers. More studies are needed to identify variables influencing social support and loneliness in migrant workers.

Keyword

Social support; Loneliness; Migration

MeSH Terms

Gyeonggi-do
Humans
Loneliness*
Nursing
Seoul
Transients and Migrants*
Surveys and Questionnaires