Changes in Mental Health of Children and Young People in Residential Care: Outcomes and Associated Factors

Abstract

Several studies have evidenced that children in out-of-home care (OOHC), including foster family care and residential care, reveal high levels of mental health disorders (ranging from 40% to 88%). This study examines the outcomes in mental health reported by key residential workers in a group of children and youth (N = 492) between 8-17 years old who were in residential child care (RCC) in Spain. The research also aims to explore the relationship between mental health outcomes and the provision of mental health services (i.e., receiving any mental health treatment) as well as the influence of child, family, and placement factors. The design of this study includes two measures: a baseline (T1) and a follow-up two years later (T2). The results indicated that 29.9% of young people enjoyed sustained mental health; 26% meaningful improvement in their mental health; 23.5% meaningful deterioration; and the remaining 20.5% showed no meaningful change. One of the main findings was that receiving mental health treatment had a significant impact on mental health outcomes. It is crucial to establish protocols and systematic detection tools to assess mental health and ensure detection and referral to proper treatment.

Academic Performance in Institutionalized and Noninstitutionalized Children: The Role of Cognitive Ability and Negative Lability

“…To address this need, this study examined the effects of institutionalization, cognitive ability, emotion regulation, and negative lability on academic performance. The main goals were twofold: (1) to analyze and compare the differences in academic performance, cognitive ability, emotion regulation, and negative lability, between institutionalized and noninstitutionalized children; and (2) to assess the relative importance of institutionalization, cognitive ability, emotion regulation, and negative lability as predictors of academic performance.…”

“…In Portugal, when children and adolescents experience family adversity and maltreatment, they are frequently placed in residential care. While residential care provides a more comprehensive and ecological assessment of the influence of institutionalization on children’s developmental adjustment, it is important to acknowledge the widely described negative effects on their development [ 1 , 2 ]. Among these, evidence pinpoints the detrimental impact that institutionalization may have on children’s academic performance [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Childhood maltreatment and mental health problems in a 10-year follow-up study of adolescents in youth residential care: A latent transition analysis

“…Out-of-home placed children and adolescents in particular report high rates of childhood maltreatment and mental health problems (Garcia et al, 2017;Gonzalez-Garcia et al, 2023;Jaritz et al, 2008;Jozefiak et al, 2016), which both have been associated with increased risks for poor functioning and lower quality of life in adolescence that might persist into adulthood (Dorsey et al, 2012;Fischer et al, 2016;Greger et al, 2016;Jozefiak & Sonnichsen Kayed, 2015;Woods et al, 2013). Many young people in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems show complex and cooccurring patterns of adversity and maltreatment (Armour et al, 2013;Charak et al, 2019;Havlicek, 2014;Rebbe et al, 2017;Yampolskaya et al, 2014).…”