Mapping Childhood Adversity in Youth in Correctional Facilities in South Korea: A Network Analysis

ABSTRACT

Many studies on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have focused on the traditional categories and used cumulative scores, approaches that may not capture broader forms of adversity or the ways that specific experiences relate to one another. To address these gaps, this study applied network analysis to examine how ACEs, including expanded indicators, are structurally organised among youth in correctional facilities in South Korea. Sixteen ACEs were assessed, comprising the 10 traditional ACEs of abuse, neglect and household dysfunction and six expanded indicators that reflect community‐level adversity, such as exposure to violence and discrimination. Sex‐specific networks were estimated to identify close links among adversities and to explore how these experiences were structurally configured within each group. Across both male and female youth, strong links appeared within maltreatment, for example, between physical and emotional abuse and between physical and emotional neglect and also between community violence and discrimination. The male network showed a larger number of direct links and a more diffuse structure, whereas the female network displayed clearer segmentation, with traditional and expanded ACEs forming distinct clusters. Some connections that occurred through other adversities were also observed, indicating that experiences in different domains were linked through intermediate ones. These findings highlight both shared and sex‐specific structural patterns across traditional and expanded ACEs among youth in correctional facilities in a non–Western setting. They suggest that screening and intervention efforts should consider not only whether adversity is present but also how adverse experiences are connected.