A Study on the Moral and Mental Health Beliefs in Sleeping Arrangements of the Children

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how individuals from Korean cultural background construct their moral and mental health beliefs by bringing together their cultural values, personal experiences and beliefs. This study aims to examine the moral ideals of individuals and mental health beliefs by observing their decision making about “who sleeps by whom” in the family. Method: Using the concept of moral and mental belief system, an analysis of the child's sleeping arrangement was conducted through qualitative research. This study was conducted through an in-depth interview from August to December 2023, and four male and two female students with Korean-American characteristics New York University students and selected as participants. The researcher conducted individual interviews, and each interview took 60 to 120 minutes. Results: Considering the cultural proximity of Korean culture, to which all participants of this project belong, it can be inferred that participants prioritized sleeping with their children with similar reasons that Korean parents provide in explaining their sleeping arrangements. Findings from the current project that was conducted with participants of Korean background may contrast with the cultural values held in American society, where parent-child co-sleeping is quite rare and the bedroom of adults is often a private space that is off limits to children. In the mental health belief, all six participants said that childhood health is very important throughout life, and that parenting stability affects children's motor development, language development, and intellectual development. They also responded that sleep arrangement plays an important role in determining children's mental health. Conclusion: It can be seen that community ethics approaches and perspectives on interdependent selfemerged in completing sleep arrangement tasks. Six participants from Korean cultural backgrounds had health beliefs that sleep arrangements should focus on child protection, often avoiding the sleep of siblings of different genders, and that sleep arrangements should be able to give children a sense of mental security as parents.