Background

South Korean youth’s strong emphasis on fairness and meritocracy, intensified during COVID-19, may have heightened exposure to morally injurious experiences arising from conflicts between personal values and societal constraints.

Objective

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between morally injurious events (MIEs) and mental health, and examined the mediating roles of self-compassion components among South Korean youth.

Methods

At Time 1, a total of 1,567 young adults aged 20–29 completed the Korean versions of the Moral Injury Events Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the General Mental Health Questionnaire, along with demographic information. After nine months, 726 participants completed a follow-up online survey. Parallel mediation models with 10,000 bootstrap resamples were conducted to test whether six self-compassion subscales mediated the relationships between two types of MIEs—perceived transgressions and perceived betrayals—and general mental health at Time 2.

Results

Both perceived transgressions and perceived betrayals were significantly associated with all six self-compassion components, including positive (e.g., self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity) and negative (e.g., self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification) factors. Among these, self-judgment and isolation accounted for significant indirect associations between MIEs and poorer mental health, whereas the positive components did not show significant indirect effects.

Conclusion

Moral injury is associated with enduring adverse mental health outcomes among youth. The findings highlight that negative self-compassion components—particularly self judgment and isolation—appear to represent key psychological pathways associated with moral distress and mental health outcomes. Interventions that cultivate self-compassion while reducing self-criticism and feelings of isolation may help mitigate the long-term psychological impact of moral injury among young people.