**4. Discussion**

This study has important academic value in that it has identified the factors of NK refugees' child abuse behaviors within the specific context of migration. The results of this study show that, from their experiences during the process of defection, NK refugees have weakened their personal and family functions, which negatively affects their attachment and family bonding, thereby indirectly increasing the risk of abuse. Specifically, North Korean parents who experienced traumatic events in the past have suffered from severe after-effects such as depression and PTSD, which were identified as having a direct impact on parenting style. The results are consistent with studies by Chan [29] and Harrington & Dubowitz [30], who demonstrated a relationship between parental emotional problems and child abuse. Today, services for migrant and refugee families, including NK refugees, are mainly focused on economic support [31], but this study shows that emotional recovery services such as psychological treatment and counseling for past experiences and trauma are equally important.

This study determined that stress arising from the adaptation of NK refugee parents has a grea<sup>t</sup> effect on child abuse. This is similar to studies on immigration and refugees of Hispanic and Vietnamese communities [21,22] (p. 3). The results of this study show that the stress experienced by NK refugees during migration caused psychological problems like depression, helplessness, and aggression, which led to negative attitudes in parenting.

Moreover, NK refugee parents with patriarchal attitudes were concerned about losing their authority over their children who were quicker to adapt, which led to stricter discipline and corporal punishment. These results sugges<sup>t</sup> that they need direct and active interventions such as anger control programs, stress relief programs, and cognitive-behavioral programs for NK refugee parents. In addition, providing self-help clubs and mentoring services with their South Korean neighbors could eliminate the sense of isolation and alienation, which, in turn, would then allow them to adapt better in South Korean society.

Finally, NK refugee parents showed low parenting efficacy due to confusion in their parenting style and lack of parenting information, and the low parenting efficacy was related to child abuse. This is consistent with studies by [32–34] Luster & Kain, Shin and Ahn, which identified that the lower the parenting efficacy, the more they were inclined to emphasize discipline and coercive parenting. The result of this study is similar to [35] Gross et al.'s study, in that the higher the efficacy of parenting, the more positive the parenting tended to be. Along with confusion about parenting, they tended to choose a parenting pattern that they learned in North Korea, a method that focused on physical punishment. This phenomenon is more often found in parents who have migrated from countries with a patriarchal culture and, as expected, it is also seen in parents of North Korean refugee families. So, in light of the results of this study, thinking seriously about their parenting role is a necessity. In other words, it seems that they need customized parenting education programs that can improve their efficacy.

The educational content should be focused on changing misunderstandings about the parenting role and disseminating useful parenting knowledge. Considering that they are NK refugees who lack the time to participate in educational programs due to low wages and job insecurity, other ways, such as offering incentives or providing online education, could also be helpful.
