Youth Leaving Institutional Care in China: Stress, Coping Mechanisms, Problematic Behaviors, and Social Support

Abstract

The study aims to provide an initial depiction of youth aging out of institutional care in China. Services for children cared in state child welfare institutes have been improving in the past decades in China. Lately, there is increasing consensus about the need for further understanding and alleviating challenges faced by youth who are aging out of the institutional care and transitioning to adulthood. Programs aimed at providing transitional services and support for these youth have emerged. However, research on the wellbeing of youth aging out of institutional care in China has been virtually non-existent. The study used survey data from 65 youth in one state child welfare institute to examine the characteristics and wellbeing of aging out foster youth, including their socio-demographic characteristics, independent living skills, sources of stress, coping mechanisms, behavioral problems, and social support. The youth faced financial difficulties and challenges in career planning and employment activities. They reported future self-expectations and economic hardships as major stress sources, and often referred to withdrawal as an anti-stress coping strategy. They were also identified with prevalent problematic behaviors and viewed social welfare agencies and friends as major sources of social support. This study shed light on the profile of youth aging out of institutional care in China. The results indicated that the youth reported unmet needs that require policy and practice attention. The findings are useful in informing social policies and interventions on developing support services for the youth transition to adulthood and independent living.

The Prevalence of High-Risk Behavior Among Adolescents in Aftercare Services and Transitioning from Out-of-home Care: A Systematic Review

“…Delinquency was the second most commonly reported form of high-risk behavior in the included studies (Table 5). In three studies, delinquency was divided based on manifestation and severity (Cusick et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2020;van Breda, 2020). Adolescents who had been placed in out-ofhome care are at a 2.5 times greater risk of incarcerated relative to adolescents who have not been in out-of-home care (Yang et al, 2017); furthermore, each additional placement increases the risk for arrest by 4% (Cusick et al, 2012).…”

“…Adolescents who had been placed in out-ofhome care are at a 2.5 times greater risk of incarcerated relative to adolescents who have not been in out-of-home care (Yang et al, 2017); furthermore, each additional placement increases the risk for arrest by 4% (Cusick et al, 2012). The prevalence of delinquent behavior ranged from approximately 2% (Liu et al, 2020) to almost 45% (Cusick et al, 2012). Most of the included studies reported that almost one-quarter of care leavers had committed crimes or were incarcerated (Cusick et al, 2012;Kelly, 2020;Mitchell et…”

“…Substance abuse was the most common form of high-risk behavior described in the included studies, with most of the adolescents who exhibited this type of behavior abusing alcohol and drugs (Table 5). Substance abuse among adolescents ranged from around 5% (Liu et al, 2020) to almost 35% (Brown et al, 2015). Most of the studies did not specify percentages of substance abuse for different illicit substances.…”

Sources and Types of Social Supports and Their Association with Mental Health Symptoms and Life Satisfaction among Young Adults with a History of Out-of-Home Care

“…In terms of research, the field would benefit from additional longitudinal studies devoted to the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults with child welfare experience. To date there is a wealth of longitudinal datasets that explore risk and protective factors for mental health and life satisfaction in this population around the world [44][45][46][47][48]. However, for the large part they have not reported analysis of the relationships between/among sources and types of social supports and mental health status.…”

Percepciones sobre la preparación para el tránsito a la vida adulta: el caso de adolescentes y jóvenes de Colombia y Argentina

“…Este es uno de los principales desafíos para los procesos de protección: lograr dar cuenta de la garantía y protección de los derechos de las/os adolescentes que tienen a su cargo, sin caer en un excesivo grado de paternalismo que les impida a las/os jóvenes entrenarse en situaciones que deberán resolver por su cuenta una vez egresen. De igual forma, será muy importante reforzar estos aspectos teniendo en cuenta la complejidad de las políticas de empleo y de vivienda de ambos países, dando un lugar especial a las competencias de empleabilidad, las cuales han sido señaladas, de manera reiterada, como fundamentales en el tránsito a la vida adulta (Alonso Bello, Santana Vega & Feliciano García, 2018;Arnau-Sabatés, Marzo, Jairot & Sala-Roca, 2014;Liu et al, 2020;Souto-Otero, 2016).…”