Social Support and COVID-19 Stress Among Immigrants in South Korea

Jang S. Kim P.Y. Kim M.-S. Koh H. Baek K.
2023 Center for Asian Public Opinion Research and Collaboration Initiative

Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
2023 #11 Issue 2 163 - 178 pp.

Individuals have been under more stress since the COVID-19 pandemic began than they were before the pandemic. While social support is a known stress buffer among the general population, its impact on stress among vulnerable populations, such as immigrants and those living in rural areas, has received little attention in the context of South Korea. Accordingly, we examined the relationship between different types of social support and COVID-19 stress among young adult immigrants based on where they live (rural vs. urban). We conducted a survey of 300 young adult immigrants aged 25–34 years and analyzed the results. The dependent variable was COVID-19 stress, and the independent variables were four types of social support: emotional, appraisal, instrumental, and informational. We discovered that young adult immigrants in rural areas perceived higher-level social support in all aspects compared with those in urban areas. Furthermore, social support was not related to COVID-19 stress in urban areas, while appraisal support was positively and informational support was negatively related to COVID-19 stress in rural areas. Our findings suggest that a contextualized understanding of social support is critical to understanding COVID-related stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 stress , immigrants , social support , South Korea

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Korea University, South Korea
Seattle Pacific University, United States
Dankook University, South Korea
Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Soongsil University, South Korea

Korea University
Seattle Pacific University
Dankook University
Nazarbayev University
Soongsil University

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