Displaying 1 - 10 of 32
Background:
The care leaver population has been noted to have worse health outcomes than those who have not experienced state care. In order to address these differential health outcomes, it is essential that the causal factors underlying this inequality are understood.
Aim:
This systematic review has three primary research aims: (1) to identify the key predictors of care leavers’ health; (2) to understand how determinants of health are conceptualised within the literature; and (3) to understand what methods and data sources are used to understand the health outcomes…
Abstract
Background
The mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people remains a concern. Despite a range of interventions, the existing evidence base is limited in scope, with a reliance on standalone outcome evaluations which limits understanding of how contextual factors influence implementation and acceptability. The care-experienced children and young people’s interventions to improve mental health and well-being outcomes systematic review (CHIMES) aimed to synthesise evidence of intervention theory, outcome, process and economic effectiveness. This…
Objective
A large literature has identified exposure to early caregiving adversities as a potent risk for developing affective psychopathology, with depression, in particular, increasing across childhood into adolescence. Evidence suggests telomere erosion, a marker of biological aging, may underlie associations between adverse early-life experiences and later depressive behavior; yet, little is understood about this association during development.
Method
The current accelerated longitudinal study examined concurrent telomere length and depressive symptoms…
Abstract:
Although most youth served in residential group care are adolescents, empirical theories indicate that youth needs vary at different stages of adolescent development. These differences likely impact adolescents’ experiences and, ultimately, responses to treatment; a neglected research topic that may have implications for residential placement and services.
This study explored youth experiences in residential care at different stages of adolescence. A descriptive qualitative content analysis from a sample of 103 youths was used to classify open-ended text into…
Abstract:
A small but growing body of research suggests that adolescents and young adults involved with the child welfare system and those transitioning out of foster care are at heightened risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Understanding the factors that place youth at risk of IPV is central to prevention and treatment of this public health problem. However, questions remain about the prevalence and correlates of IPV among youth in foster care. Additionally, emotional abuse, a particular form of IPV in intimate partnerships, remains an understudied area in this…
Childhood neglect is associated with impairment across multiple domains of development. Because types of neglect co-occur and are correlated with abuse, most research cannot address the specific effects of psychosocial neglect. This limitation matters because some scholars have advocated that child protection measures should be employed only when a child is physically endangered.
This report reviewed evidence for the effects of psychosocial neglect on development derived from studies of young children raised in U.S. institutions. In these caregiving environments, children are physically…
Removal from family of origin to state care can be a highly challenging childhood experience and is itself linked to an array of unfavourable outcomes in adult life. This systematic review aimed to synthetise evidence on the risk of adult mortality in people with a history of state care in early life, and assess the association according to different contexts.
The present synthesis of existing evidence found that the excess risk of adult mortality in this group was not attributable to other measures of adversity captured in included studies, suggesting that, in the countries…
Family reunification occurs when migrants relocate without intact family units, and later reunite in new countries. Family serial migration and reunification is a global issue, relating to both voluntary and involuntary migrants who seek physical safety, psychological well-being, and economic self-sufficiency in new countries. Early studies alluded to a joyful family reconsolidation, while recent studies have found stressful reunions. This study provides an overview of the family reunification process of Latinx adolescents who have migrated to join their families in the United States.
The…
Typical large-group institutions for abandoned children or orphans are known to be bad for the development of children, but what about small-group care?
This report presents SOS Children’s Villages (SOSCV) as a natural and non-detrimental setting for abandoned children. In a random effects meta-analysis, the authors combined the scientific evidence on the physical and mental health of children growing up in SOSCV compared with peers growing up in typical institutions and in biological and foster families (N = 1,567). Results showed substantial developmental delays of SOSCV children…
The Barna Group conducted a survey of 3,000 U.S. Christians to understand their perceptions and support of orphanages.
The key objectives of this study were threefold: to estimate the total annual dollar amount that American Christians donate to residential care programs, to identify how Christians engage in short-term missions related to children in residential care programs, and to understand ways in which Christians are likely to engage in the near future, given the impact and constraints of COVID-19.
KEY FINDINGS
Donations
19% of survey…