Abstract
Although we know there are high rates of mental health difficulties amongst young people in out-of-home care (i.e. social welfare-involved children), there is limited evidence on the longitudinal development of these problems, particularly from when they enter the care system. Using the routinely collected carer-reported strengths and difficulties questionnaire, we explored internalising (emotional and peer) and externalising (conduct and hyperactivity) difficulties for 672 young people across their first 3 years in the UK care system (2–16 yrs, 51% boys, 76% Caucasian). In all cases stable profiles (resilient or chronic) were most common, while changing profiles (recovery or delayed) were less common. Findings showed that entry into the care system is not enough of an intervention to expect natural recovery from mental health difficulties. Number of placements and being separated from siblings were associated with greater difficulties. Implications for child welfare and mental health systems are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 141-151 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Child Maltreatment |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 27 Jan 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 27 Jan 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by an MQ Data Science award (MQDS17/29).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
Keywords
- internalising
- externalising
- longitudinal
- child maltreatment
- child welfare
- foster care
- out-of-home care
Access to Document
- Full-text PDF (final published version)
This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via SAGE Publications at https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595211070765. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.