Latent Transition Analysis of Pre- and Post-Adulthood Adverse Life Experiences in Isolated and Reclusive Young Adults in South Korea

Background/Purpose: Isolated and reclusive young adults are at elevated risk of experiencing adverse life events, yet little is known about how such experiences evolve across the life course. This study aims to identify latent subgroups of adverse life experiences before and after adulthood and examine how individuals transition between these subgroups over time.

Methods: Data and samples: Data were drawn from the 2022 Seoul Survey on Isolated and Reclusive Young Adults, the first national survey in South Korea targeting this population. A total of 486 isolated and reclusive young adults residing in Seoul were included. Latent Class Analyses (LCA) were conducted separately for pre- and post-adulthood experiences, followed by a cross-sectional Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) to examine transitions between the two latent variables.

Measures : Pre-adulthood adverse life experiences were measured using six binary indicators: family economic hardship, abuse, emotional distress, loss of someone close, school transfers, and bullying. Post-adulthood experiences were assessed using eight indicators across four domains: economic (e.g., school dropout), education/career, employment, and relationships (e.g., betrayal or separation). Six covariates were used to examine group-level characteristics: gender, age, educational attainment, subjective family economic status, medication use, and perceived health status.

Results: The LCA identified three pre-adulthood classes: the high-adversity group (n=84, 17.3%), the average-adversity group (n=85, 17.5%), and the low-adversity group (n=317, 65.2%). For post-adulthood, four classes were identified: the high-adversity group (n=142, 29.2%), the employment-frustration group (n=156, 32.1%), the relationship-conflict group (n=87, 17.9%), and the low-adversity group (n=101, 20.8%).

LTA results showed that individuals in the pre-adulthood high-adversity group transitioned to the low-adversity (69.6%) or relationship-conflict (30.4%) groups. The average-adversity group primarily shifted to the high-adversity group (66.8%), while the low-adversity group showed heterogeneous transitions: 42.2% to relationship-conflict, 25.1% to high-adversity, and 12.4% to employment-frustration. Group comparisons revealed clearly differentiated patterns across the latent classes. The high-adversity group consisted predominantly of men in their 30s with low education, lower subjective economic status, and poor perceived health. The employment-frustration group also showed high male representation among individuals in their 20s and 30s, with overall lower socioeconomic indicators. The relationship-conflict group had the highest proportion of young adults aged 19 to 29 (54.0%) and the highest rate of medication use (32.2%), with moderate levels of education and perceived economic status. The low-adversity group consisted mainly of women, had the highest educational attainment, and showed the most favorable economic and health profiles.

Conclusions and Implications: Adverse life experiences among isolated and reclusive young adults follow heterogeneous and non-linear trajectories. Findings underscore the importance of identifying risk not solely based on early adversity but through patterns of transition and the distribution of structural and psychosocial characteristics. Group-specific interventions are needed to address the complex and varied life pathways of isolated and reclusive young adults, considering their differing demographic, economic, and health-related profiles..