A scoping review of factors associated with the mental health of young people who have “aged out” of the child welfare system

Alice R. Phillips, Sarah L. Halligan, Rachel M. Hiller, John A. A. MacLeod, Susan Robinson, David Wilkins

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

2 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Young people who grow up in care and then exit care around the age of 18 (care-leavers) are a particularly vulnerable group, at increased risk for mental health problems even relative to other care-experienced groups. Yet, little is understood about the factors underpinning this association. We used scoping review methods to synthesize the quantitative and qualitative literature on factors that are associated with mental health problems for care-leavers. Following rigorous methods, we systematically searched three scientific databases spanning psychology and social care and identified 23 peer-reviewed studies for inclusion. This review highlights the heterogeneity of this research, in terms of methodology and topics investigated. Topics included are as follows: pre-care maltreatment, care-related experiences, psychological factors (emotion regulation), social support, education, and adult functioning (e.g., housing, finances, employment). We found mixed and inconsistent findings across research studies. The strongest evidence-base is around the influence of social support upon the mental health of recent care-leavers, though methodological problems are discussed. The field benefits from several large-scale observational and longitudinal research studies. However, there is an over-reliance upon retrospective reporting, and the use of unvalidated measures is common. It is apparent that there are significant gaps in our current understanding of the mental health of care-leavers, in particular around modifiable factors. We discuss potential directions for future empirical research, both in terms of methodology and factors investigated.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1780-1798
Number of pages19
JournalTrauma, Violence, and Abuse
Volume25
Issue number3
Early online date30 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: ARP is funded by Great Western 4 BioMed Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4 BioMed MRC DTP). JM is partly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West). Funding sources had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of research findings, write-up of the article, or decision to submit the article for publication.

Keywords

  • child welfare
  • foster care
  • mental health
  • qualitative
  • quantitative
  • scoping review

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Applied Psychology

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