ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

Objective: This study aims to examine the influence of online bridging capital on the social skills of out-of-school youth, focusing on both the indirect effect mediated by offline bridging capital and the direct effect without mediation. Methods: Data were drawn from 400 out-of-school youth of middle and high school age who participated in the Study on the Social Development of the MZ Generation in the COVID-19 Era conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute of Korea. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to analyze the mediating model. Results: The findings revealed that online bridging capital did not have a direct effect on social skills; instead, it influenced social skills only indirectly through offline bonding capital. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of offline bridging capital in the process through which online bridging capital enhances social skills among out-of-school youth. In other words, for online relationships to contribute to the development of social skills in real-life contexts, offline interactions play a crucial role. Therefore, strategies are needed to facilitate the transition from online to offline exchanges. Based on these findings, specific practical measures to improve the social skills of out-of-school youth are discussed.

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