Factors Associated with Mental Health and Related Outcome Indicators among Correctional Officers in Korea: A Scoping Review

Correctional officers in the Republic of Korea work in closed institutional settings where close contact with inmates, rotating shifts, and exposure to violence may place their mental health at risk.Research on this population has largely focused on corrections and police administration, with limited application of nursing perspectives.This scoping review aimed to map research trends, influencing factors, and mental health outcome indicators among Korean correctional officers and provide baseline evidence for nursing research and practice.The review followed the five-stage framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005).NDSL (now ScienceON), RISS, and KISS were searched for studies published between January 2001 and July 31, 2022; searches were conducted from June 1 to August 10, 2022.After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 29 studies were included.More than half (55.2%) were published between 2011 and 2020.Journal articles accounted for 65.5% of the studies, and quantitative designs for 89.7%; corrections and justice represented the largest disciplinary category (44.8%).Influencing factors were grouped into job-and organization-related, sociodemographic, psychosocial, and individual and health-related factors, with occupational stress examined most frequently (51.7%).Job satisfaction was the most frequently reported positive outcome indicator (24.1%).Among negative outcome indicators, depression was reported most frequently (17.2%), followed by anxiety and psychosis (13.8% each) and job stress responses (10.3%).These findings suggest that promoting correctional officers' mental health requires attention to job and organizational conditions alongside individual and psychosocial factors, using an integrated approach that alleviates negative symptoms while strengthening personal resources and protective factors.Multidisciplinary research is needed to explore the role of mental health nurses in correctional settings and to develop and evaluate strength-based, recovery-oriented nursing interventions for their effectiveness and feasibility.