The Association between Adverse Adulthood Experiences and Loneliness Among Young Adults

Background and Purpose: Young adults in South Korea face growing loneliness due to structural issues like intense competition, job insecurity, and high housing costs leading to more single-person households. The "N-po Generation," having given up on dating, marriage, and childbirth, has fewer chances to build meaningful relationships. Increased digital communication and less face-to-face interaction have led to connected isolation, contributing to depression and a high suicide rate—now pressing public health concerns. This study explores how adverse adulthood experiences (AAEs) during early adulthood (ages 18–34)—such as relationship loss, financial hardship, and career uncertainty—affect loneliness.

Methods: This study analyzed data from the Youth Socioeconomic Survey conducted by the Korea Youth Policy Institute in 2021. Using multi-stage sampling methods and face-to-face interviews, information was collected from 2,041 young adults aged 18-34. The survey gathered data on young adults' socioeconomic status, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse adulthood experiences (AAEs), health status, wellbeing, loneliness, and social isolation. The dependent variable was loneliness assessed by the 18-item version of UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1996). Respondents rated loneliness from 1 (never) to 4 (always) and the higher the score, the stronger the loneliness experience. The independent variable were AAEs. Five binary indicators were used to count the total number of AAEs. The types of AAEs were as follows: (1) Experience of having to take a leave of absence from school or drop out due to financial difficulties; (2) Experience of being pressured about employment or forced to change career paths by close acquaintances; (3) Experience of not being able to enter university at the time I wanted; (4) Experience of not being able to find a job at the time I had hoped for; (5) Experience of being betrayed or deceived by someone I trusted. The study conducted a multiple regression analysis to verify the relationship between AAE and loneliness, controlling for sociodemographic characterstics (age, gender, education level, and household income) and ACEs.

Results: The mean loneliness score was 33.0 (SD=7.31). Almost 27.4% of the sample had at least one AAEs, while 28% of the sample had at least one ACEs. The most frequently reported AAEs included the experience not being able to fine a job at the time I had hoped for (17.0%). The least reported AAEs item was the experience of having to take a leave of absence from school due to financial difficulties (5.0%). Also, the most frequently reported ACEs included loss of family member (16.0%), changing schools or moving frequently (12.4%) and physical abuse (8.1%). The multiple regression analysis presented that there was a positive association between AAEs and loneliness (b= .67, p< .05), and also there was a positive association between ACEs and loneliness (b= .79, p< .05), controlling for other factors.

Discussion and Implications: Our findings support that adverse adulthood experiences (AAEs) are connected to loneliness in young adulthood. This study calls for collective actions to consider adverse adulthood experiences in preventive interventions for loneliness in emerging adulthood