Life Course Outcomes on Mental and Physical Health: The Impact of Foster Care on Adulthood

Zlotnick, Cheryl; Tam, Tammy W.; Soman, Laurie A.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300285

Cited by 134 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Given that homeless youth in general (Keeshin & Campbell, 2011) as well as youth who emancipated from foster care (Zlotnick et al, 2012), are likely to have experienced greater childhood adversity and are at greater risk for cumulative disadvantage, understanding the interplay between the risk and protective factors that contribute to or protect youth from homelessness is of critical importance. Risk factors have received greater attention in the literature.…”

Section: From Foster Care Emancipation To Struggles With Homelessnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences and needs of homeless youth with a history of foster care

Bender

Yang

Ferguson

et al. 2015

Children and Youth Services Review

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Section: From Foster Care Emancipation To Struggles With Homelessnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences and needs of homeless youth with a history of foster care

Bender

Yang

Ferguson

et al. 2015

Children and Youth Services Review

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“…[9][10][11][12]16 Many health conditions have their origins in the childhood and teenage years; thus findings are relevant not only for public and private agencies serving former foster youth but also for those serving youth currently in foster care.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Outcomes in Young Adults From Foster Care and Economically Diverse Backgrounds

2014

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WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Youth in foster care are at higher risk of health problems at entrance and during their stays in care. Little is known about this group' s risk of health problems in young adulthood, in comparison with other populations of young adults. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This is the first prospective study to our knowledge demonstrating that former foster youth are at higher risk of chronic health problems than economically secure and insecure general population young adults. abstract BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Foster youth have high rates of health problems in childhood. Little work has been done to determine whether they are similarly vulnerable to increased health problems once they transition to adulthood. We sought to prospectively evaluate the risk of cardiovascular risk factors and other chronic conditions among young adults formerly in foster care (FC) and young adults from economically insecure (EI) and economically secure (ES) backgrounds in the general population. METHODS:We used data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (FC group; N = 596) and an agematched sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (EI and ES groups; N = 456 and 1461, respectively). After controlling for covariates, we performed multivariate regressions to evaluate health outcomes and care access by group at 2 time points (baseline at late adolescence, follow-up at 25-26 years).RESULTS: Data revealed a consistent pattern of graduated increase in odds of most health outcomes, progressing from ES to EI to FC groups. Health care access indicators were more variable; the FC group was most likely to report having Medicaid or no insurance but was least likely to report not getting needed care in the past year.CONCLUSIONS: Former foster youth appear to have a higher risk of multiple chronic health conditions, beyond that which is associated with economic insecurity. Findings may be relevant to policymakers and practitioners considering the implementation of extended insurance and foster care programs and interventions to reduce health disparities in young adulthood.

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“…For example, it is well known that children who are abused, neglected, and placed into the foster care system can experience dramatically altered life course trajectories (Zlotnick et al 2012;Tyler and Schmitz 2013;Patterson et al 2015). Initial studies examining the impact of adversity, institutional placement, and out-of-home care have suggested how such experiences can alter neurobiological functioning and cellular processes associated with the regulation of cellular aging and longevity (Drury et al 2012;Karatsoreos and McEwen 2013).…”

Section: The Health Development Of Particularly Vulnerable Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Initial studies examining the impact of adversity, institutional placement, and out-of-home care have suggested how such experiences can alter neurobiological functioning and cellular processes associated with the regulation of cellular aging and longevity (Drury et al 2012;Karatsoreos and McEwen 2013). Life course health development research could improve these interventions in regard to their capacity to improve long-term trajectories for children in foster care and other vulnerable populations, including young people involved in the juvenile justice system and children with chronic and debilitating medical conditions and impairments (Zlotnick et al 2012). In each case, better understanding the health, growth, and developmental trajectories-and the factors and experiences associated with optimal health development outcomes-is sorely needed.…”

Section: The Health Development Of Particularly Vulnerable Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Course Research Agenda (LCRA), Version 1.0

Halfon¹,

Forrest

Lerner

et al. 2017

Handbook of Life Course Health Development

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Research Network (LCRN) and charged it with creating a new infrastructure for catalyzing progress and enhancing funding to support basic, theoretical, applied, and translational life course health development research of relevance to practice and policy. In addition to undertaking a variety of other activities and projects aimed at advancing the emerging field, the LCRN initiated an inclusive agendasetting process that resulted in the Handbook of Life Course Health Development, including this chapter and the research agenda it contains. For a more detailed description of the development and history of the LCRN, the Handbook, and the research agenda, please see the Preface and Introduction to this volume.

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Life Course Outcomes on Mental and Physical Health: The Impact of Foster Care on Adulthood

Cited by 134 publications

References 18 publications

Experiences and needs of homeless youth with a history of foster care

Experiences and needs of homeless youth with a history of foster care

Health Outcomes in Young Adults From Foster Care and Economically Diverse Backgrounds

Life Course Research Agenda (LCRA), Version 1.0

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