A Study on the factors that affects care leaver’s depression

In Korean society, there remains a significant lack of public awareness and institutional support for care leavers, leading many of them to face severe socio-economic hardships and various psychological and emotional challenges such as depression during their transition to independent adulthood. In response to this issue, this study utilizes secondary data from the “Establishment of the Basic Plan to Support Care Leavers in Seoul” research project, conducted by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family in 2023. This empirical analysis aims to verify the real-life difficulties experienced by care leavers and to examine the key determinants that significantly affect their psychological well-being, particularly focusing on depression, which is closely tied to their overall quality of life and, potentially, their survival. The findings reveal that physical factors affect the most substantial influence on depression among care leavers, followed by social and economic factors. Among physical factors, self-rated health status was suggested to have the greatest impact on depression. In terms of social factors, the presence of personal social relationships and the perception of discrimination emerged as significant. While within the economic domain, the status of Welfare recipient was a major contributing factor. Based on these findings, the study suggests the following policy directions to mitigate the psychological and emotional risk factors, such as depression, among care leavers, thereby facilitating their smoother social integration and development as independent members of society: First, expansion of medical support systems to address health-related vulnerabilities, Second, enhancement of social support networks for care leavers, Third, efforts to eliminate societal prejudice and stigma, and Forth, realistic reinforcement of economic support measures for those in financially disadvantaged circumstances.