Placement Instability Among Young People Removed from Their Original Family and the Likely Mental Health Implications.

上海精神医学 Pub Date : 2017-04-25 DOI:10.11919/j.issn.1002-0829.216090

Simon Rice, Sue Cotton, Kristen Moeller-Saxone, Cathrine Mihalopoulos, Anne Magnus, Carol Harvey, Cathy Humphreys, Stephen Halperin, Angela Scheppokat, Patrick McGorry, Helen Herrman

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引用次数: 14

Abstract

Background: Young people in out-of-home care are more likely to experience poorer mental and physical health outcomes related to their peers. Stable care environments are essential for ameliorating impacts of disruptive early childhood experiences, including exposure to psychological trauma, abuse and neglect. At present there are very few high quality data regarding the placement stability history of young people in out-of-home care in Australia or other countries.

Objectives: To undertake the first systematic census of background, care type and placement stability characteristics of young people living in the out-of-home care sector in Australia.

Methods: Data was collected from four non-government child and adolescent community service organisations located across metropolitan Melbourne in 2014. The sample comprised 322 young people (females 52.8%), aged between 12 - 17 years (mean age=14.86 [SD=1.63] years).

Results: Most young people (64.3%) were in home-based care settings (i.e., foster care, therapeutic foster care, adolescent care program, kinship care, and lead tenant care), relative to residential care (35.7%). However, the proportion in residential care is very high in this age group when compared with all children in out-of-home care (5%). Mean age of first removal was 9 years (SD=4.54). No gender differences were observed for care type characteristics. Three quarters of the sample (76.9%) had a lifetime history of more than one placement in the out-of-home care system, with more than a third (36.5%) having experienced ≥5 lifetime placements. Relative to home-based care, young people in residential care experienced significantly greater placement instability (χ²=63.018, p<0.001).

Conclusions: Placement instability is common in the out-of-home care sector. Given stable care environments are required to ameliorate psychological trauma and health impacts associated with childhood maltreatment, well-designed intervention-based research is required to enable greater placement stability, including strengthening the therapeutic capacities of out-of-home carers of young people.

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离开原生家庭的年轻人安置不稳定及其可能的心理健康影响

背景:接受家庭外护理的年轻人更有可能经历与同龄人相关的较差的心理和身体健康结果。稳定的护理环境对于改善破坏性幼儿经历的影响至关重要，包括暴露于心理创伤、虐待和忽视。目前，关于澳大利亚或其他国家年轻人在家庭外护理中的安置稳定性历史的高质量数据非常少。目的:对澳大利亚生活在家庭外护理部门的年轻人的背景、护理类型和安置稳定性特征进行第一次系统普查。方法:数据收集自2014年位于墨尔本大都市的四个非政府儿童和青少年社区服务组织。样本包括322名年轻人(女性52.8%)，年龄在12 - 17岁之间(平均年龄=14.86 [SD=1.63]岁)。结果:大多数年轻人(64.3%)在家庭护理环境中(即寄养、治疗性寄养、青少年护理计划、亲属护理和主要租户护理)，相对于寄宿护理(35.7%)。然而，与所有接受家庭外照料的儿童相比，这个年龄组接受寄宿照料的比例非常高(5%)。首次拔除的平均年龄为9岁(SD=4.54)。护理类型特征没有观察到性别差异。四分之三的样本(76.9%)在家庭外护理系统中有过一次以上的安置史，超过三分之一(36.5%)的样本经历过5次以上的安置史。与居家照料相比，寄宿照料的年轻人的安置不稳定性显著更高(χ2=63.018, p)。结论:安置不稳定性在居家照料中很常见。由于需要稳定的照料环境来减轻与儿童虐待有关的心理创伤和健康影响，因此需要进行精心设计的以干预为基础的研究，以提高安置的稳定性，包括加强年轻人的家庭外照料者的治疗能力。

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来源期刊

上海精神医学

自引率

0.00%

发文量

2341

期刊介绍： Shanghai archives of psychiatry (bimonthly) was founded in 1959 and is sponsored by Shanghai Mental Health Center. The journal is aimed at mental health workers across the country, including psychiatrists and nurses, clinical psychologists, social workers, and people who are committed to the cause of mental health. It focuses on reporting clinical research results and practical experience in the field of psychiatry, and introduces the latest knowledge in psychiatry and related fields. The columns include monographs, case reports, clinical case discussions, reviews, mental health and law, and debates and discussions.