The Interaction Effects of Regional Scale and Support Methods on the Self-Esteem of Multicultural Youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effects of regional scale and support method on the self-esteem of multicultural youth. To this end, a two-way ANOVA was conducted for 1,149 second year middle school students using data from the 2nd 5th year (2023) of the Multicultural Youth Panel Survey (MAPS) of the Korea Youth Policy Institute. The research findings indicate that the interaction effect between the regional scale and support method on the self-esteem of multicultural adolescents has been confirmed. Regardless of the support method in large cities, high self-esteem was shown, but it was found that the self-esteem of the group receiving invisible support significantly decreased as it went to small and medium-sized cities and town areas. This suggests that the smaller the regional scale, the larger the difference in effect of the visibility of the multicultural youth support method on self-esteem. This study shows the need to comprehensively consider the characteristics of each region and the visibility of support methods when designing multicultural youth support policies and programs, and is meaningful to provide basic data for expanding related theories and policies.