Assessing Independent Life Skills of Youth in Child Protection: A MultiInformant Approach

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to adapt and validate a staff version of the PLANEA Independent Life Skills Assessment tools, which were then used to explore the convergence between self-reported and staff views of independent living skills of young people in residential child care in Spain. Method: A sample of 422 care-experienced young people was evaluated by their residential or care workers (n = 219) using the staff version of PLANEA instruments. Psychometric analyses were carried out to study dimensionality and measuring properties of the instruments, while t-tests, Pearson correlations and Fisher's z were used to study convergence between informants. Results: The results show that the internal structure of the instruments was confirmed for the staff versions (three first-order factors and one second-order factor model for PLANEA-S, unidimensional model for PLANEA-9-S, and two-factor correlated model for PLANEA-T-S). The instruments showed excellent reliability (ω = .80-.97) and discriminative capacity. Staff showed less optimistic views than young people about their independent living skills but not their autonomy to perform everyday life tasks. This was mediated by the role of the adult respondent towards the young person evaluated. Conclusions: As conclusions we can say that the validated staff version of the PLANEA Independent Life Skills Assessment tools expands the scope for assessing this construct in young people in care from a multi-informant perspective. This is key for child protection services to address young people's individual needs and inform decision-making regarding the provision of support services that will promote a successful transition from care to adulthood for them.La evaluación de habilidades para la vida independiente de jóvenes en el sistema de protección: un enfoque multiinformante R E S U M E N Antecedentes: El objetivo de este estudio fue de adaptar y validar una versión para personal educador de los instrumentos PLANEA de evaluación de habilidades para la vida independiente. Dichos instrumentos se emplearon para explorar la convergencia entre el nivel de habilidades para la vida independiente percibido por jóvenes en acogimiento residencial y sus educadores. Método: La muestra se compuso de 422 jóvenes residentes en recursos de acogimiento residencial o de apoyo para extutelados, quienes fueron evaluados por personal educador (n = 219) utilizando los instrumentos PLANEA. Se realizaron análisis estadísticos para estudiar la dimensionalidad y propiedades psicométricas de los instrumentos y se emplearon pruebas t de Student, correlaciones de Pearson y z de Fisher para estudiar el nivel de convergencia entre informantes. Resultados: Los resultados confirman la estructura interna esperada para los instrumentos (tres factores de primer orden y un factor de segundo orden para PLANEA-S, modelo unidimensional para PLANEA-9-S y modelo bifactorial correlacionado para PLANEA-T-S). Los instrumentos mostraron niveles excelentes de fiabilidad (ω = .80-.97) y capacidad discriminativa. El persona...

Assessing the Needs of Victimized Adolescents in Therapeutic Residential Care in Spain

“…The use of standardized tools within the child welfare system promotes a better collaboration between professionals and programs, contributing to enhance professional competence and confidence (Sletten & Ellingsen, 2020), and improving the services provided. Moreover, early detection of overall life skills for an independent life would facilitate individualization of services provided for adolescents in TRC (García-Alba et al, 2022). This type of programs should be implemented in all regions and facilities as a general policy and objective for the child welfare system.…”

Readiness for independent living of youth in residential childcare: A comparative study

“…First, our results are based solely on self-reported measures. Future research could benefit from the inclusion of additional measures, such as caregivers' points of view of young people's skills (García-Alba et al, 2022).…”

“…The present study seeks to address this gap in research by exploring the perceived readiness for independent living of a group of care‐experienced young people in Spain, comparing it with the perceptions of their peers in the general population who are, in general, not expected to conduct a rapid emancipation from their homes. For this, we will use PLANEA Independent Life Skills Assessment tools, a set of instruments that have shown good psychometric properties and evidence of validity to measure care‐experienced young people's life skills and personal autonomy in the Spanish context (García‐Alba et al, 2021, 2022). These instruments have been developed from the framework of Planea Programme, an independent life skills training tool that care workers can use in residential childcare to promote young people's autonomy and everyday life skills in Spain (Del Valle & García‐Alba, 2021).…”

“…However, although most of them report their instruments' reliability indexes, no rigorous psychometric studies have been conducted about them. Some of the studies mentioned have found that young people in care tend to perceive themselves with high levels of life skills (Benbenishty & Schiff, 2009;Casey et al, 2010;Dinisman & Zeira, 2011;Dutta, 2017;García-Alba et al, 2022;Refaeli et al, 2013;Trout et al, 2014). Trout et al (2014) suggested that these results might be explained by an overestimation of their capacity, in the light of the less optimistic views of young people's skills informed from parents' or caregivers' point, and of studies in which young people reported feeling ill-prepared for independent living (Mitchell et al, 2015;Moodley et al, 2020).…”

Meta-análisis de la eficacia de intervenciones psicológicas en menores refugiados

“…Esta población presenta una especial vulnerabilidad debido a que se encuentran en una etapa evolutiva en la que su proceso de desarrollo cognitivo, biológico y psicosocial está incompleto y en la que no cuentan con habilidades de afrontamiento suficientemente desarrolladas que les permitan llevar una vida independiente (Lau y Thomas, 2008); y aunque existen programas de prevención psicosocial contra la radicalización y el extremismo (v. gr., Jugl et al, 2021), no se aplican (o no se hace lo suficiente) ante estos casos, al menos para intentar mejorar las habilidades, tal y como se aplican a jóvenes ante un sistema de protección (véase García-Alba et al, 2022). En consecuencia, los niños y adolescentes son especialmente susceptibles a sufrir los efectos psicológicos adversos derivados de la exposición a numerosos factores de riesgo personales, sociales y ambientales durante su viaje migratorio, que pueden afectar negativamente el desarrollo psicológico y emocional de estos menores (Bronstein y Montgomery, 2011;Díaz Rodríguez, 2017;Loinaz y de Sousa, 2020).…”