Internationally, there is an increasing trend toward placing children in kinship vs. foster care. Prior research suggests that children in kinship care fare better compared to children in foster care; however, the reasons for this remain unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the hypothesis that kinship care better preserves children’s connectedness to caregiver, birth family, culture, and community; which, in turn, is associated with more optimal child outcomes. Thirty-one studies were reviewed that compared children aged 0–18 years in kinship care vs. foster care on levels of connectedness, three of which had outcomes that permitted meta-analysis. Findings indicated that children in kinship vs. foster care were more likely to feel connected to family in general; however, there was not a clear advantage for kinship vs. foster care for caregiver, birth parent, cultural, and community connectedness. While levels of connectedness were generally associated with more adaptive child outcomes for children in both kinship and foster care, no reviewed studies examined the hypothesis that children’s connectedness may mediate the relationship between placement type and child well-being and placement outcomes. Results are discussed with respect to limitations and policy implications of the current evidence-base and the need for more rigorous research to help identify how to improve child well-being in home-based care.

在国际上，将儿童置于亲属关系而不是寄养的趋势越来越明显。先前的研究表明，与寄养儿童相比，亲属照料的儿童表现更好；然而，其原因尚不清楚。我们进行了系统回顾和荟萃分析，以检验以下假设：亲属照料能更好地保持儿童与照料者、出生家庭、文化和社区的联系；反过来，这与更理想的儿童结果相关。对 31 项研究进行了审查，这些研究比较了 0-18 岁亲属照料与寄养儿童的联系程度，其中三项研究的结果允许进行荟萃分析。调查结果表明，有亲属关系的孩子与寄养的孩子相比，总体上更有可能感受到与家庭的联系；然而，对于照料者、亲生父母、文化和社区联系而言，亲属关系与寄养相比没有明显优势。虽然联系水平通常与亲属和寄养儿童的适应性更强的儿童结果相关，但没有经过审查的研究检验儿童的联系可能调节安置类型与儿童幸福和安置结果之间的关系的假设。结果讨论了当前证据基础的局限性和政策影响，以及需要进行更严格的研究以帮助确定如何改善家庭护理中的儿童福祉。虽然联系水平通常与亲属和寄养儿童的适应性更强的儿童结果相关，但没有经过审查的研究检验儿童的联系可能调节安置类型与儿童幸福和安置结果之间的关系的假设。结果讨论了当前证据基础的局限性和政策影响，以及需要进行更严格的研究以帮助确定如何改善家庭护理中的儿童福祉。虽然联系水平通常与亲属和寄养儿童的适应性更强的儿童结果相关，但没有经过审查的研究检验儿童的联系可能调节安置类型与儿童幸福和安置结果之间的关系的假设。结果讨论了当前证据基础的局限性和政策影响，以及需要进行更严格的研究以帮助确定如何改善家庭护理中的儿童福祉。