Child Abuse & Neglect ( IF 3.4 ) Pub Date : 2023-02-28 , DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106120 Kirstie O'Hare 1 , Stacy Tzoumakis 2 , Oliver Watkeys 1 , Ilan Katz 3 , Kristin R Laurens 4 , Merran Butler 5 , Felicity Harris 1 , Vaughan J Carr 6 , Melissa J Green 7
Background
Children in out-of-home care (OOHC) are generally at increased risk of health and social adversities compared to their peers. However, the experiences of children in OOHC are not uniform and their associated health and social indices may vary in relation to characteristics of OOHC placements and child protection contact.
Objective
To examine associations between a range of characteristics of OOHC placements and child protection contact (e.g., number, type, and age of placement) with educational underachievement, mental disorder, and police contact (as a victim, witness, or person of interest) in childhood.
Participants and setting
Participants were Australian children drawn from the New South Wales Child Development Study cohort who had been placed in OOHC at least once between the ages of 0–13 years (n = 2082).
Methods
Logistic regression was used to examine prospective associations of OOHC placement and child protection contact characteristics (type of carer, placement instability, duration and frequency of maltreatment, and amount of time in care) with educational underachievement, mental disorder diagnosis and any type of police contact.
Results
Placements with foster carers, greater placement instability, longer and more frequent exposure to maltreatment, and longer time spent in care were each associated with greater likelihood of consequences in all domains of functioning.
Conclusions
Children with certain placement characteristics are at higher risk of adverse consequences and should be prioritised for support services. The magnitude of relationships was not uniform across different health and social indices, highlighting the need for holistic, multiagency approaches to support children placed in care.
中文翻译:
澳大利亚人口样本中与儿童教育成绩不佳、精神障碍和警察联系相关的户外护理特征
背景
与同龄人相比,接受家庭外照料 (OOHC) 的儿童通常面临更高的健康和社会逆境风险。然而,儿童在 OOHC 中的经历并不统一,其相关的健康和社会指数可能因 OOHC 安置和儿童保护接触的特征而异。
客观的
检查 OOHC 安置和儿童保护接触的一系列特征(例如,安置的数量、类型和年龄)与教育成绩不佳、精神障碍和警察接触(作为受害者、证人或感兴趣的人)之间的关联童年。
参与者和设置
参与者是来自新南威尔士儿童发展研究队列的澳大利亚儿童,他们在 0-13 岁之间至少接受过一次 OOHC ( n = 2082)。
方法
逻辑回归用于检查 OOHC 安置和儿童保护接触特征(照顾者类型、安置不稳定、虐待的持续时间和频率以及护理时间)与教育成绩不佳、精神障碍诊断和任何类型的警察接触的前瞻性关联.
结果
与寄养照料者的安置、更大的安置不稳定性、更长时间和更频繁的虐待暴露以及更长的照料时间都与在所有功能领域产生后果的可能性更大有关。
结论
具有某些安置特征的儿童出现不良后果的风险更高,应优先获得支持服务。不同健康和社会指数之间的关系程度并不一致,这突出表明需要采用全面的、多机构的方法来支持接受照料的儿童。