Work Environment and Depressive Symptoms of Webtoon Writers
Dublin Core
Title
Work Environment and Depressive Symptoms of Webtoon Writers
Subject
Depression
Mental health
Webtoons
Work environment
Writers
Mental health
Webtoons
Work environment
Writers
Description
Webtoon, a digital form of comics created in the Republic of Korea, has spread widely with
advantages that anyone can become a cartoonist and that autonomy of creation is guaranteed. The
purpose of this study is to identify the working conditions of webtoon writers and analyze the relationship between these conditions and depressive symptoms.
Methods: A survey was carried out on webtoon writers and a survey data of 312 webtoon writers were
analyzed. The questionnaire included basic socio-demographic characteristics, webtoon writers’
contractual type, fields of activity (webtoon creator, story writer, illustrator), and working environment
(labor discretion etc.). We investigated depressive symptoms and analyzed its relation to the work
environment of webtoon writers.
Results: Webtoon writers were exposed to long working hours, high labor intensity, limited labor
discretion, negative comments from readers, and had a high prevalence of depressive symptoms.
Compared to story writers who contracted directly with platforms, story writers and the illustrators who
contracted with content providers (CPs) were 9.51 times (OR ¼ 9.51, 95% CI ¼ 1.47 - 61.33) and 6.47 times
(OR ¼ 6.47, 95% CI ¼ 1.08 e 38.75) more likely to have depressive symptoms, respectively.
Conclusions: This study emphasizes the urgent necessity to improve the overall working environment in
the webtoon industry and implement measures to tackle the escalating mental health challenges faced
by illustrators and story writers contracted with CPs, especially given the increasing popularity of novel
comic
advantages that anyone can become a cartoonist and that autonomy of creation is guaranteed. The
purpose of this study is to identify the working conditions of webtoon writers and analyze the relationship between these conditions and depressive symptoms.
Methods: A survey was carried out on webtoon writers and a survey data of 312 webtoon writers were
analyzed. The questionnaire included basic socio-demographic characteristics, webtoon writers’
contractual type, fields of activity (webtoon creator, story writer, illustrator), and working environment
(labor discretion etc.). We investigated depressive symptoms and analyzed its relation to the work
environment of webtoon writers.
Results: Webtoon writers were exposed to long working hours, high labor intensity, limited labor
discretion, negative comments from readers, and had a high prevalence of depressive symptoms.
Compared to story writers who contracted directly with platforms, story writers and the illustrators who
contracted with content providers (CPs) were 9.51 times (OR ¼ 9.51, 95% CI ¼ 1.47 - 61.33) and 6.47 times
(OR ¼ 6.47, 95% CI ¼ 1.08 e 38.75) more likely to have depressive symptoms, respectively.
Conclusions: This study emphasizes the urgent necessity to improve the overall working environment in
the webtoon industry and implement measures to tackle the escalating mental health challenges faced
by illustrators and story writers contracted with CPs, especially given the increasing popularity of novel
comic
Creator
Jinwoo Lee 1,2
, Jeehee Min 3
, Yu Min Lee 4
, Min Young Park 5
, Hyoung-Ryoul Kim 5,*
, Jeehee Min 3
, Yu Min Lee 4
, Min Young Park 5
, Hyoung-Ryoul Kim 5,*
Source
https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/287282/1-s2.0-S2093791124X00037/1-s2.0-S2093791124000210/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjED4aCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIQCldlAyvdvUemUI8HJI9V5XjI61NieSk673JyFLHnw4MgIgI1raS6TUevom3QYCQjAmzgx9KSBi8fcmNF80xCcjHzMqswUIBxAFGgwwNTkwMDM1NDY4NjUiDM0ntowpMQsT31nXDyqQBSSmQtyYAqg%2BQ1CCE9R2c1iY5da9WGoY3PFrIcaqj%2B%2BMUOn0jRsDyffBbmwMxsGe3weB%2Bzfk%2Fio59Mq5V9d%2Bmo1HZDJ7jrHszLg9jUNQBfJeKtcNj28Dv8fuvg%2F%2BdHx3qGYD2p7i6fMbyGu9FSVsNa23420rlxiT9%2FCWK%2Bkw3NdkzA2eDPGny6YnFSCmDJlb%2Fxs0v5Du4gM%2FK7gEQu%2FKkEt3v%2Bz8epUbor85zrFZ%2Fw24qljUE4NkOzeEUfhfJh6kQZCNEKnwYWLXEnT7rs9XdkagCsCqiI75WPaJdMdsXQR1gYeZN3RMHpooZcvFJuBTkcbu9fMcw6O6XgSqfqT2L3dot8fhFMmU%2BGFrvcjF4ZNiz%2Fjdwizp2A68Kx8AYh0jQ63j1NLGccCPq0u4qqg6Q7m64yDUYq8SMeX9yMbB6fbXEuZRSexCC0wBdCWuiK9%2BVrlL4C5WfVPE9UmQyPQV1KFiBRU9rhXlVi58TVZlFUrWoSXOt8RuMaZIGH0JjANN4ADWhNyFYhqyXnsxSN5g7tT0etiLE3h9ovz3xqYVuNGuj3PQObA5pujS7orTpwp9ajC367xNgJOJJGw%2FW4k2F3fuQQlazCVWY%2FIeX%2B7RHP%2Bt%2BqksQ2tR9PylK%2FcfUkQOLDkaaUdRS0V37aAe%2FK%2F1YD3ffLo1xOOkvuRxdXw0NwCVdj0Y1KlIOXQf4KrlbEhs82WurTo%2BrHzzN2T9IwdaGCeHoOWzpqwUWlH8uULdt2vIqBohLc2nKYpT5nFjgGCYH9jyLRP4FU7oZVfHSMUg%2BJpe2bZuzFiUEnvS7XZZ%2FEcKd8DpOJJZL9ZVe5mckHbTYVfgIy5XEcnNoMbyFnuAx6m9yM9ezq5QQ%2FoO5SdSCGenMNed%2BswGOrEBiMb8gjhKTV8E%2FPttF7PT%2F8zDHNwVyV2Vsdz6oIZ9%2FjW6SCpxy%2B3HSUqzRWIkT%2B0k%2BhahHBYAE4GoS38Zudvfr%2FGJiM6cnAko7ga0c%2BqgI%2F2fhAOwAiOQQL1wgkN8kqEtMWNEzGbeX3WlIhqKSBFb2FXdPKC1QU8mKAkOIw8zDpbymu3wDGbFVUqFCPgSvMN%2Bd445PGXe8K%2FKFkEdm2WTUGhNhsiGa0zs7SjXy%2B0BKeSe&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20260225T070840Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTY33RCFZQ3%2F20260225%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=7e5a34d6a20eb746df856e3b8ad605f2e8778e1765440a964e1188771c5a8d33&hash=71491290badfc8434c880598ee3894d5c5b667051ee63714e2294508e4027957&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S2093791124000210&tid=spdf-0890ada3-3472-4e1c-ae29-cc172fdf5dc6&sid=323f66de8e4980408c0be7b-7fe7e7fe55f2gxrqb&type=client&tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&rh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&ua=0b015e065457540156&rr=9d355f6e480d008f&cc=id
Publisher
1Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Graduate School of the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of
Korea
2 Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanil General Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
3Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
4Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
5Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic
of Korea
Korea
2 Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanil General Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
3Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
4Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
5Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic
of Korea
Date
4 April 2024
Contributor
FAJAR BAGUS W
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Citation
Jinwoo Lee 1,2
, Jeehee Min 3
, Yu Min Lee 4
, Min Young Park 5
, Hyoung-Ryoul Kim 5,*, “Work Environment and Depressive Symptoms of Webtoon Writers,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed April 26, 2026, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/11701.