Young Adults' Resilience after Collective Trauma: Consideration of Gender Differences in the Korean Context

Introduction: In an era marked by global conflicts, rising crime rates, climate change, and pervasive uncertainties, social workers play a critical role in responding to the needs of individuals, communities, and national systems. Recent social disasters such as the pandemic can compound collective trauma accumulated from historical events, which in the case of Korea, include Japanese colonialism, the Korean War, and periods of dictatorship. Young adults, facing significant mental health challenges, may struggle to recover from traumatic events through heightened anxieties. This study aims to explore the interplay between collective trauma, social anxiety, and resilience among these young adults in the Korean context.

Methods: We conducted an online survey targeting Korean young adults aged 18 to 34 using a stratified sampling method based on geographic regions, which resulted in a sample of 323 surveys. The outcome variable, resilience was measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Our primary predictors were the number of traumatic events and social anxiety measured by the Social Unrest Scale which uses individuals’ perception of fairness, competition, safety, adaptability, and trust in government as guiding indicators. We examined the relationship between traumatic experiences, social anxiety, and resilience by utilizing multiple linear regression analyses. Self-identified gender, educational attainment, and income were included in analyses as covariates. Gender differences were examined using multiple linear regression analysis and t-tests.

Results: The multiple regressions suggest that anxiety related to adaptation (β = -0.448, p < .001) substantially reduces resilience, followed by fairness (β = -0.194, p < .01). At the same time, higher competition anxiety (β = 0.216, p < .01) and sense of unsafety (β = 0.176, p < .01) predicted stronger resilience. Being male (β = .237, p < .001) and higher income (β = .106, p < .001) were associated with higher resilience. Individuals currently in college (β = .240, p < .001) and college graduates and Masters/PhDs (β = .205, p < .01) showed stronger resilience compared to high school graduates and individuals with less than high school degrees. Adaptation and fairness-related anxiety were negatively associated with resilience for both genders. However, gender differences were noted: competition and safety-related anxiety, education attainment, and income had a positive effect on resilience only for men. The t-tests show that male participants exhibited slightly higher resilience than females (ES = 0.01, p < .01) while females exhibited higher social anxiety levels than males in several categories with small mean differences, all less than 0.02.

Conclusions/Implications: Various socioeconomic characteristics and experiences of social anxiety may act as distinct protective factors against trauma for each gender. Considering the intricate interplay between collective trauma, social anxiety, resilience, and gender, it is necessary to account for gender in developing tailored mental health assessments and services for young adults. This may include gender-specific counseling, psychoeducation, and coping skill-building. Furthermore, social work programs can focus on the unique needs and challenges faced by males and females in building resilience and managing anxiety to cope with collective trauma and social anxiety effectively.