Anton Schreuder , David van Klaveren , Maroesjka van Nieuwenhuijzen , Wessel Kraaij , Tanja A.J. Houweling
{"title":"Predicting youth care between 0 to 4 years of age: a 2015–2019 Dutch population register data study","authors":"Anton Schreuder , David van Klaveren , Maroesjka van Nieuwenhuijzen , Wessel Kraaij , Tanja A.J. Houweling","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108600","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108600","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>Youth care services support families facing problems with raising children. Use of such services may be avoided if preventative support were offered. We developed youth care risk prediction models to enable risk stratification approaches.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We used Dutch registry data of births between 2015–2019, including neighbourhood characteristics, socioeconomic status, parental health and behaviours, past birth outcomes, current birth outcomes, and household characteristics. The primary outcome was use of youth care services between the ages of 0–4 years. Multivariable Cox regression models were derived for assessment moments one year before birth, at birth, one year after birth, and two years after birth (models 1–4, respectively).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The full cohort consisted of 776,559 Dutch births, of which 32,290 underwent at least one youth care trajectory (4.2 %). Each full model performed equivalently to the respective parsimonious model. Parsimonious model 1 achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.760 (95 % confidence interval = 0.757–0.763). Model performance improved minimally at each subsequent assessment moment, reaching an AUC of 0.798 (0.794–0.801) for parsimonious model 4. The strongest predictors included prior youth care, parental educational level, maternal psychiatric medication prescription, and maternal job status. When classifying 10 % of the cohort with the highest risk of any youth care as positive, the negative predictive value was high (≥0.972) and the positive predictive value was low (≤0.164).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>If the consequences of false positive tests can be mitigated, then screening may offer relief to families before involvement of the over-encumbered youth care services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108600"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Care leavers’ employment experiences and outcomes: Choices and Social structures","authors":"Rajendra Rambajue , Christopher O’Connor","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108599","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108599","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While young adults who transitioned from out-of-home care (also referred to as care leavers in this article) are globally recognized as a disadvantaged population with increased vulnerability to negative employment outcomes, their voices are underrepresented in research and theorizing on this topic is limited. Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Ontario, Canada with 21 young adults ages 19–27 who transitioned from out-of-home care (i.e., foster or residential group) and associated with the child welfare system, this article examines care leavers’ first-hand experiences of poor employment outcomes through a social justice lens (i.e., intersectional individualization). The findings suggest that they had inadequate employment preparation and skills before transitioning out of care and experienced barriers to employment after transitioning. Using a social justice lens by drawing on intersectional individualization theorizing, this article argues that while care leavers try to navigate employment, their multiple, intersecting identities, and invisible experiences as well as structural changes restrict their choices, which together increase their vulnerability to poor employment outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108599"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145221393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The social-emotional consequences of child neglect: Exploring the interpersonal and psychological pathways","authors":"Xinwen Zhang , Steven Sek-yum Ngai , Zhiyou Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108596","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108596","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Child neglect is a prevalent issue that has long-lasting effects on children’s social-emotional development. However, the mechanisms linking neglect to developmental outcomes remain underexplored. This study explores the impact of child neglect on adolescents’ social-emotional development, focusing on the mediating roles of peer relationships and psychological distress. A sample of 1043 children in China was surveyed using self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was applied to assess the direct and indirect effects of neglect on social-emotional outcomes. Results show that neglect is significantly linked to poorer social-emotional development, with peer relationships and psychological distress serving as key mediators. Additionally, Hukou status was found to moderate the path between neglect and psychological distress, with urban children showing a stronger effect compared to their rural counterparts. These findings highlight the importance of addressing peer attachment and mental health in interventions for neglected children and suggest implications for child welfare policies, especially in diverse regional contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108596"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145159242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Renée Usher , Lauren Parsons , Melissa O’Donnell , Brontë Walter , Eden Thain , Donna Chung
{"title":"“It’s not a normal upbringing”: Insights from young mothers with care experience to improve parenting support and prevent intergenerational out-of-home care","authors":"Renée Usher , Lauren Parsons , Melissa O’Donnell , Brontë Walter , Eden Thain , Donna Chung","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108593","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108593","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Young people with a history of out of home care (OHC) experience have globally been shown to experience poorer outcomes in comparison to their non-care experienced peers, including areas of health, educational attainment, employment, and housing. Outcomes are also gendered, as young women with OHC experience are more likely to enter parenthood as teenagers and have contact with the child protection system. This study aimed to explore the experiences of mothers with OHC experience as they transition from OHC to independent living. Eleven participants meeting the inclusion criteria of being mothers were chosen from a larger sample study called Navigating Through Life, which recruited young people aged between 15–25 years who had been in OHC for at least six months in Western Australia. Four participants identified as Aboriginal while seven were non-Aboriginal. All were aged between 18–25 years at the time of the interviews, and one mother had children removed by the child protection system. The overarching finding was that leaving care planning and post-care support did not meet the needs of participants, particularly around parenthood. Participants felt under-supported and unprepared to leave care and be independent as mothers. Participants also expressed a strong desire to break or avoid an intergenerational cycle of OHC in their families. Areas of improvement for leaving care planning and care leaver service provisions are offered and directions for future research are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108593"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145221394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas E. Keller , Martha J. McCormack , Miriam Miranda-Diaz , Alison L. Drew , Renée Spencer
{"title":"“I wished I could have said bye”: exploring youth reactions to formal mentoring relationship endings","authors":"Thomas E. Keller , Martha J. McCormack , Miriam Miranda-Diaz , Alison L. Drew , Renée Spencer","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108594","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108594","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Youth mentoring programs strive to create stable, supportive relationships between adult mentors and youth mentees to promote positive youth development. Although these formal relationships always reach a conclusion, little is known about how mentees experience the endings of their relationships. This study elicits the words and perspectives of mentees to investigate the emotional reactions provoked by mentoring relationship terminations. Participants were youth (n = 72) in a prospective study of mentoring relationship development who completed a survey following the official closure of their match. Asked how they felt about the match ending, mentees more often indicated negative rather than positive emotions. Invited to give a single word describing their feelings, youth shared a range of responses (e.g., nonchalant, bittersweet, confused, shocked, sad, lonely, angry, abandoned). On an adapted Extended Grief Inventory, youth were more likely to endorse positive memories, but sizeable proportions also endorsed items from the traumatic grief subscale. Content analysis of responses to how mentees wished the ending had been different yielded themes such as wanting an explanation, a final meeting, a chance to say goodbye, a better relationship experience, or simply continuing the match. The findings, interpreted with respect to attachment theory, ambiguous loss, and disenfranchised grief, suggest mentoring relationships have meaning to youth beyond the life of the relationship and that endings can elicit strong feelings. With an ethical imperative to do no harm to youth, mentoring programs should attend to the potential for loss and grief and provide adequate support to mentees during and after relationship endings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108594"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrea Ćosić , Ivana Borić , Martina Lotar Rihtarić
{"title":"Unveiling Inequity: Experiences of peer discrimination from perspective of young people in residential care","authors":"Andrea Ćosić , Ivana Borić , Martina Lotar Rihtarić","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108590","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108590","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Young people living in residential care are often exposed to an increased risk of social stigmatization and discrimination in various social environments. Given the important role of peer relationships for the positive development of young people, it is crucial to gain a deeper insight into the specific dynamics of discrimination within peer interactions. The aim of this study was to explore how young people living in residential care perceive and experience discrimination from their peers. A qualitative approach was used, and data was collected in four focus groups and two dyadic interviews. A total of 30 young people (16 boys) aged 14–20 from different types of residential care institutions in Croatia participated in the study. The data was analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. The young people experience various forms of discrimination, from social isolation and exclusion, labeling, mocking to physical violence. Regarding the experience of peer discrimination, young people emphasize change in that experience over time and the internalization of discrimination. Furthermore, school emerged as the primary setting where peer discrimination is most frequently experienced, and there is often a lack of effective action by adults to prevent or address discrimination. Coping with discrimination is mostly described through physical aggression and social distancing<strong>.</strong> The findings emphasize the need for the development of comprehensive, multi-level support aimed at raising public awareness and challenging negative stereotypes associated with young people in residential care, particularly within peer groups. Schools, local communities and residential care settings are recognized as key social environments where more systematic and effective protective measures and interventions should be implemented to reduce peer discrimination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108590"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jin Zhao , Wenting Liu , Yuyang Xie , Yijia Li , Hongyu Guan
{"title":"The long-term impacts of preschool attendance on prosocial behaviors of children in China","authors":"Jin Zhao , Wenting Liu , Yuyang Xie , Yijia Li , Hongyu Guan","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108576","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108576","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite growing public attention to access to preschool education in China, there is limited evidence about its potential long-term impacts on children’s prosocial behavior development. This study examines the long-term effects of preschool attendance on children’s prosocial behaviors in China. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey, a nationally survey of 9,317 adolescents at 221 classes in 28 counties, we employed four identification strategies (i.e., the OLS regression model, county fixed effects model, propensity score matching approach, and IV model) to overcome the endogeneity of preschool attendance. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, our analysis revealed a significantly positive effect between preschool attendance and children’s prosocial behaviors (β = 0.164, P < 0.05). Specifically, compared with those without preschool education experience, the prosocial behavior scores of those with preschool education experience will increase by 0.164 points. Our results also suggested that children may reap more prosocial behavior benefits by attending preschools longer, and we found that the age at which a child entered preschool made an important difference in our sample. The mechanism analysis indicated that children with preschool attendance experience tend to develop a higher level of positive emotions (β = 0.027, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.011, 0,043], 2.7 % of total effect), more parental supervision and (β = 0.027, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.014, 0,041], 5.2 % of total effect) and better peer relationship (β = 0.052, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.025, 0,079], 5.2 % of total effect), which in turn promotes better prosocial behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108576"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stacey Gagliano, David M. Hulac, Stevie Spinelli, Bethany J. Kronberg
{"title":"Protective factors of STS in residential treatment staff","authors":"Stacey Gagliano, David M. Hulac, Stevie Spinelli, Bethany J. Kronberg","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between empathy, a problem-focused coping style, compassion satisfaction (CS), staff cohesion, and symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS) in residential treatment center (RTC) staff, while controlling for previous direct trauma exposure. A total of 44 participants were recruited from RTCs in a western state and included mental health care providers (clinical staff), direct-care staff, and educational staff. Participants completed a 62-question electronic survey that included several self-report measures evaluating each of the aforementioned variables, in addition to demographics. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the degree to which these variables explain STS symptoms in RTC staff. The experience of direct trauma, empathy, problem-focused coping, CS, and staff cohesion significantly explained STS symptoms in RTC staff. Particular individual and/or organizational factors were hypothesized to serve a protective function against STS; however, the results of this study suggest that an individual’s direct history of trauma is significantly associated with STS. Further research is warranted as this knowledge may benefit training programs and staff development opportunities across systems that serve traumatized youth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108588"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Psychological impacts of child labour in Punjab: An application of fairlie decomposition analysis","authors":"Faizan Ali, Atif Khan Jadoon, Mumtaz Anwar","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108586","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108586","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Child labour is among the most vulnerable groups, often a contributor and a driver of poverty, with the impact leads to serious consequences that can persist into adulthood. Physical harms of child labour are well documented but there is little empirical literature on the effects of child labour on various dimensions of Psychological Health Problems (PHPs). This paper examines a largely neglected potential consequence of child labour on the PHPs recognized in the theory. The study used five dimensions of PHPs from the latest data set of Punjab’s Child Labour Survey (PCLS 2019–20). Descriptive statistics were used to understand the gap in having PHPs between child labourers (CLs) and non-child labourers (NCLs) across selected covariates using multivariable binary logistic regression (average marginal effects) and Fairlie decomposition techniques. The logistics regression results indicated that CLs are more likely to fall in PHPs as compare to NCLs. The Fairlie decomposition analysis shows that child abuse, child schooling, mother & household head’s education and household wealth status are the significant contributors in explaining the gap of PHPs between the two groups of our study. Child abuse accounts for 53.91% of the mental health gap between CLs and NCLs, indicating it as a major contributor to the disparity. The gap of PHPs can be reduced up to 22.47% if the distribution of different wealth quintiles of the CLs is identical to the NCLs. Addressing the issue of PHPs among children will require a sustained effort by the government, civil society, and international partners, with a particular focus on working children, those lower education backgrounds, and belongs to poor households and underdeveloped segments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108586"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sheila Parra-Gomez , Celina Salvador-Garcia , Oscar Chiva-Bartoll
{"title":"Ethnographic study based on pictures and words in a physical education service-learning programme with young students with disabilities and their families","authors":"Sheila Parra-Gomez , Celina Salvador-Garcia , Oscar Chiva-Bartoll","doi":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108589","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108589","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article describes the development and results of an ethnographic study carried out within the context of a Service-Learning (SL) programme for initial teacher education as part of the Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. Its main objective is to discover how participation in this programme was experienced by the different actors involved and what it meant for them. The main focus is placed on the group at risk of exclusion (young people with disabilities and their families) in order to make their needs visible and outline programmes for future editions. However, the learnings and experiences of future teachers are also analysed through the prism of a pedagogy of metamorphosis, as the relationship between the two groups is seen as one of reciprocity. 34 photographs, 36 semi-structured interviews, a field journal and the reflections of the future teachers were used to analyse the most significant aspects of the process and extract the central themes on which the results were built. The results are presented as a crisscrossing network of findings that collects the themes shared by the different agents (future teachers, SEC pupils and families), such as the learnings for each group involved, participation and socialization, as well as specific results for each of the groups (identification of needs, leisure, relationships, etc.). The main conclusion is that this type of project is crucial for improving the conditions of disadvantaged groups such as young people with disabilities, but also for promoting the professional and personal growth of future teachers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48428,"journal":{"name":"Children and Youth Services Review","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 108589"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}