The shaping of mental health and the mechanisms leading to (un)successful transitions for care-experienced young people

心理健康的塑造以及导致有护理经验的年轻人成功（不）成功过渡的机制

• 批准号: MR/W002132/1
• 负责人: Lisa Holmes
• 金额: $ 288.15万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW002132%2F1
• 关键词: shaping; mental; health; mechanisms; leading

One in 30 UK children are taken into care before their 18th birthday and placed with foster carers, in residential care, or are adopted. Children who are removed from their families are a very vulnerable group. Many have experienced abuse and other difficulties, such as seeing violence and drug use. Once in care, they are often separated from brothers and sisters and live with many different carers. We know that these experiences can have a big effect on young people, that lasts long into their adult life. Compared to other young people, those who have been in care are five times more likely to have a mental health problem, like anxiety or depression. They are also more likely to be excluded from school, be exploited, and during adulthood have higher rates of not having a job and being homeless. Care-experienced young people are also twice as likely to die early, particularly by suicide. But, these types of outcomes do not have to be so common - some young people flourish in care or after adoption. We know little about why some young people struggle with mental health difficulties, while others struggle less, and others do well. Our project addresses this gap and will provide important information that can be used to improve the lives of this group. The aim of our research is to learn what processes are linked to the mental health of care-experienced young people and how they manage at two key periods ('transitions'). These are: moving from primary into secondary school and moving into adulthood. Specifically, we are interested in understanding the role of: (a) pre-care experiences (what they experienced before they came in to care); (b) service-level issues (e.g., their experiences in care and in school); and (c) individual psychological and social processes (e.g., how they see themselves and others, manage emotions, and their feelings about support from friends and at home). If we can understand what processes are important and what they mean for these young peoples' wellbeing, we can help social workers, teachers, and mental health workers better identify those who might need help, and design better prevention and intervention programmes. More effective support could enable young people in care to feel better about themselves and reach their full potential. We will complete three studies in four years. In one, we will link national data in England and Wales on 14,000 care-experienced young people. Using data on care histories, mental health, and school, this study will help us to understand what 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' transitions look like, and what factors are linked with successful transitions through to adulthood. In two further studies we will identify the role of service-level and psychological processes that are thought to shape mental health and transition 'success'. To do this we will recruit two groups, each of 300 young people. One group will be ages 10-13 (moving into secondary school) and one will be ages 17-18 (moving into early adulthood). They will answer questions twice, 1-year apart. We will also talk twice to 30 children (10-11yrs) and 30 young people (17-18yrs) and their caregiver, to learn more about their hopes and worries before and after the move, and the support they received and would have liked. We are researchers from social policy, psychology, social work, education, and medicine supported by leading charities: Adoption UK and Coram Voice. Three panels of care-experienced young people (11-14yrs; 17-25yrs) and adopted young people (13-21yrs) will contribute to every stage of the research. We will also offer work experience in our universities to at least four care-experienced young people. Alongside care experienced young people and our partners, we will share our findings widely via articles, blogs, interviews, academic papers, and workshops with services, foster carers and adoptive parents, and policy makers such as the Department for Education.

每30名英国儿童中就有一名在18岁生日前被收养，并被寄养在寄养家庭、寄宿家庭或被收养。离开家庭的儿童是一个非常脆弱的群体。许多人都经历过虐待和其他困难，例如目睹暴力和吸毒。一旦接受照顾，他们往往与兄弟姐妹篇分开，与许多不同的照顾者生活在一起。我们知道这些经历会对年轻人产生很大的影响，这种影响会持续到他们的成年生活。与其他年轻人相比，那些被照顾的人有五倍的可能性有心理健康问题，如焦虑或抑郁。他们也更有可能被排除在学校之外，受到剥削，成年后没有工作和无家可归的比例更高。有护理经验的年轻人过早死亡的可能性也是两倍，特别是自杀。但是，这些类型的结果并不一定是如此普遍-一些年轻人在照顾或收养后蓬勃发展。我们对为什么有些年轻人在心理健康问题上苦苦挣扎知之甚少，而另一些人则挣扎得较少，而另一些人则做得很好。我们的项目解决了这一差距，并将提供可用于改善这一群体生活的重要信息。我们研究的目的是了解哪些过程与有护理经验的年轻人的心理健康有关，以及他们如何在两个关键时期（“过渡期”）进行管理。这些阶段是：从小学进入中学和进入成年。具体来说，我们有兴趣了解以下方面的作用：（a）护理前的经历（他们在接受护理之前的经历）;（B）服务水平问题（例如，（c）个人的心理和社会过程（例如，他们如何看待自己和他人，管理情绪，以及他们对朋友和家庭支持的感受）。如果我们能够理解哪些过程是重要的，以及它们对这些年轻人的福祉意味着什么，我们就可以帮助社会工作者、教师和心理健康工作者更好地识别那些可能需要帮助的人，并设计更好的预防和干预方案。更有效的支持可以使受照料的年轻人自我感觉更好，并充分发挥其潜力。我们会在四年内完成三项研究。在一个，我们将链接在英格兰和威尔士的国家数据对14,000护理经验丰富的年轻人。利用护理历史，心理健康和学校的数据，这项研究将帮助我们了解什么是“成功的”和“不成功的”过渡看起来像，以及什么因素与成功的过渡到成年。在两个进一步的研究中，我们将确定服务水平和心理过程的作用，被认为是塑造心理健康和过渡“成功”。为此，我们将招募两组，每组300名年轻人。一组将是10-13岁（进入中学），一组将是17-18岁（进入成年早期）。他们将回答两次问题，间隔一年。我们还将与30名儿童（10- 11岁）和30名年轻人（17- 18岁）及其照顾者进行两次交谈，以了解他们在搬家前后的希望和担忧，以及他们得到的支持和希望得到的支持。我们是来自社会政策，心理学，社会工作，教育和医学的研究人员，由领先的慈善机构支持：领养英国和Coram Voice。三个有护理经验的年轻人（11- 14岁; 17- 25岁）和被收养的年轻人（13- 21岁）小组将为研究的每个阶段做出贡献。我们还将向至少四名有护理经验的年轻人提供我们大学的工作经验。除了护理经验丰富的年轻人和我们的合作伙伴，我们将通过文章，博客，访谈，学术论文和研讨会与服务，寄养照顾者和养父母以及教育部等政策制定者广泛分享我们的发现。