Effect of a Pedometer-Based, 24-Week Walking Intervention on Depression and Acculturative Stress among Migrant Women Workers

Abstract

Little research has examined exercise-based interventions meant to alleviate depressive symptoms among Korean-Chinese migrant women workers living in Korea. Thus, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a 24-week walking program on reducing depressive symptoms and acculturative stress levels in this population. This quasi-experimental sequential walking program was conducted with 132 Korean-Chinese women over a period of 24 weeks. Participants were divided into either a standard treatment group (n = 69) or enhanced treatment group (n = 63). All participants were instructed to walk using a pedometer. The enhanced treatment group also received mobile text messages designed to encourage walking adherence and improve acculturation. Participants were asked to complete two structured questionnaires, the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Acculturative Stress Scale, to evaluate the intervention programs. At the end of the program, both groups exhibited decreased depression scores, but the decrease in the enhanced treatment group was more significant both at weeks 12 and 24. Acculturative stress was also found to have decreased at weeks 12 and 24. Our findings show the walking program reduced the depressive symptoms and acculturative stress levels among the Korean-Chinese women in this study. Further studies will be needed to analyze the relationship between walking step count and mental health considering exercise intensity.

Factors Influencing Physical Activity Participation among Midlife Immigrant Women: A Systematic Review

“…Findings of our review also indicated the benefits of using smartphone-based technology for the purposes of motivation and assistance [ 40 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Our findings are in accordance with other studies using phone text-message psychosocial intervention therapies, which found significant improvements in mood and depression among vulnerable groups of immigrant women, challenging previous notions that phone-based navigation for immigrants is difficult [ 62 , 63 ].…”

“…Five (23%, 5/22) studies utilized mobile-based technologies for various purposes including intervention administration, and motivational or assistive reminders [ 40 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. The administration of a walking intervention among Korean–Chinese midlife women found that the use of a mobile-phone-based pedometer was practical for accurately self-monitoring daily physical activity [ 44 ].…”

“…Another mHealth intervention among Korean–Chinese midlife immigrant women found that administering an intervention through phones was cost-effective since over 91% of individuals in the study region utilized smartphones [ 43 ]. In addition, smartphone technology was utilized for the purposes of information sharing, motivation, or assistance with engaging in physical activity [ 40 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. For example, a pedometer-based walking intervention utilized 12 exercise-related motivational text messages with enhanced images of medals to promote adherence and improve acculturation [ 45 ].…”

“…In addition, smartphone technology was utilized for the purposes of information sharing, motivation, or assistance with engaging in physical activity [ 40 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. For example, a pedometer-based walking intervention utilized 12 exercise-related motivational text messages with enhanced images of medals to promote adherence and improve acculturation [ 45 ]. A mobile-based health intervention development strategy among Korean–Chinese midlife women utilized assistive reminders through text-messaging to encourage and provide emotional support for the continuation of the program [ 43 ].…”

Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China

“…With the development of living standards, more research has started to focus on the impact of walking on individuals’ mental health. In past studies, there is abundant evidence that walking promotes recovery from mental health disorders [ 21 , 22 ] and is an important measure to improve mental health [ 23 , 24 ]. Kekäläinen et al [ 25 ] demonstrated that walking was positively associated with participants’ mental, social, and subjective health.…”