Abstract
• Youth in the Swedish out-of-home care sample have performed more concrete preparations for independent living compared to youth in the U.S. sample. • Youth in the Swedish out-of-home care sample are less prepared to enter secondary education and are more negative toward the school environment compared to youth in the U.S. sample. • Youth in the Swedish out-of-home care sample report lower scores on protective factor measures compared to youth in the U.S. sample. • The self-determination model of intervention for youth transitioning from our-of-home care to independent living is a promising model to pilot with youth transitioning from out-of-home care in Sweden. Prior research has established evidence for self-determination enhancement as a promising intervention for youth transitioning from out-of-home care. Understanding how participants in these prior trials compare to adolescents in target contexts may inform practice by highlighting the extent to which such models are expected to benefit young people. To assess the extent to which self-determination enhancement is a promising strategy for the Swedish context. Cross-sectional study comparing a sample of Swedish youth (n = 104) in out-of-home care aged 15+ on a range of outcomes with two archival data sets ( My Life; Better Futures) of youth placed in out-of-home care in the U.S. (n = 295; n = 66). Swedish sample youth report: (1) having come further in their concrete planning for transition to independent living, (2) being less prepared to enter post-secondary education and being more negative toward the school environment in general, and (3) lower scores on a range of general protective factors than youth in U.S. samples. The self-determination model of intervention may be a promising model to adapt and pilot in the Swedish setting due to the tentative findings that Swedish youth placed in out-of-home care perceive themselves as lacking the assets and resources necessary to address challenges during the transition from out-of-home care.
Highlights
Continually shows that adolescents placed in out-of-home care transition to independent living with relative disadvantage in areas such as mental health (Egelund & Lausten, 2009; Ford, Vostanis, Mletzer, & Goodman, 2007; Holtan, Rønning, Handegård, & Sourander, 2005; Lehmann, Havik, Havik, & Heiervang, 2013; Pecora, White, Jackson, & Wiggins, 2009), somatic health (Brännström, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2015; Köhler, Emmelin, Hjern, & Rosvall, 2015; Schneiderman, Leslie, Arnold-Clark, McDaniel, & Xie, 2011), educational attainment (Berlin, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2011; Johansson, Höjer, & Hill, 2011) and housing stability (Sallnäs & Vinnerljung, 2012; Webster, Barth, & Needell, 2000; Wulczyn, Kogan, & Harden, 2003) compared to their non-placed peers
Swedish sample youth were in grade and My Life and Better Futures youth were in grade (p < 0.001)
Youth in out-of-home care in Sweden are at disadvantage compared to their Swedish peers in the areas that these policies attempt to ameliorate (e.g., Berlin et al, 2011; Johansson et al, 2011; Vinnerljung et al, 2010; Vinnerljung & Hjern, 2011; Vinnerljung et al, 2005), it does not appear, from the current exploration, that they are at disadvantage compared to adolescents that have participated in experimental studies of the self-determination model of intervention
Summary
Continually shows that adolescents placed in out-of-home care (e.g., foster care, group home care, institutional care) transition to independent living with relative disadvantage in areas such as mental health (Egelund & Lausten, 2009; Ford, Vostanis, Mletzer, & Goodman, 2007; Holtan, Rønning, Handegård, & Sourander, 2005; Lehmann, Havik, Havik, & Heiervang, 2013; Pecora, White, Jackson, & Wiggins, 2009), somatic health (Brännström, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2015; Köhler, Emmelin, Hjern, & Rosvall, 2015; Schneiderman, Leslie, Arnold-Clark, McDaniel, & Xie, 2011), educational attainment (Berlin, Vinnerljung, & Hjern, 2011; Johansson, Höjer, & Hill, 2011) and housing stability (Sallnäs & Vinnerljung, 2012; Webster, Barth, & Needell, 2000; Wulczyn, Kogan, & Harden, 2003) compared to their non-placed peers This developmental disadvantage appears to follow these youth into adulthood as a host of Swedish national cohort studies has shown that young adults who have exited societal care have – in comparison with majority population peers - high rates of mental health problems (Vinnerljung, Berlin, & Hjern, 2010; Vinnerljung & Hjern, 2014; Vinnerljung, Hjern, & Lindblad, 2006), suicidal behavior and premature.
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