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/W002132/2
• 负责人: Lisa Holmes
• 金额: $ 275.71万
• 依托单位: University of Sussex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW002132%2F2
• 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.

在英国，每30个孩子中就有一个在18岁生日之前就被照顾，被寄养、寄宿或被收养。被带离家庭的儿童是一个非常脆弱的群体。许多人经历过虐待和其他困难，例如看到暴力和吸毒。一旦受到照顾，他们往往与兄弟姐妹分开，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，并一直持续到他们的成年生活。与其他年轻人相比，那些接受过护理的人出现心理健康问题的可能性是其他年轻人的五倍，比如焦虑或抑郁。他们也更有可能被学校排斥、被剥削，成年后失业和无家可归的比例更高。接受过护理的年轻人早死的可能性是其他人的两倍，尤其是死于自杀。但是，这些类型的结果并不一定如此普遍-一些年轻人在护理或收养后茁壮成长。我们几乎不知道为什么有些年轻人与心理健康问题作斗争，而另一些人则不那么困难，而另一些人却做得很好。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经历过护理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”）进行管理。这些是：从小学进入中学和进入成年。具体来说，我们感兴趣的是理解以下因素的作用：(a)护理前经历（他们在接受护理之前的经历）；(b)服务水平问题（例如，他们在护理和学校的经历）；(c)个人心理和社会过程（例如，他们如何看待自己和他人，如何管理情绪，以及他们对来自朋友和家庭支持的感受）。如果我们能够了解哪些过程是重要的，以及它们对这些年轻人的健康意味着什么，我们就可以帮助社会工作者、教师和精神卫生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顾的年轻人自我感觉更好，并充分发挥其潜力。我们将在四年内完成三项研究。首先，我们将把英格兰和威尔士14000名有护理经验的年轻人的全国数据联系起来。利用护理史、心理健康和学校的数据，这项研究将帮助我们了解“成功”和“不成功”的过渡是什么样的，以及哪些因素与成功过渡到成年期有关。在进一步的两项研究中，我们将确定服务水平和心理过程在塑造心理健康和过渡“成功”方面的作用。为此，我们将招募两组人，每组300名年轻人。一组是10-13岁（进入中学），另一组是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）以及他们的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、教育和医学领域的研究人员，得到了英国收养和Coram Voice等主要慈善机构的支持。三组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）将参与研究的每个阶段。我们还将向至少四名有护理经验的年轻人提供在我们大学的工作经验。除了有护理经验的年轻人和我们的合作伙伴外，我们还将通过文章、博客、访谈、学术论文和与服务机构、寄养者和养父母以及教育部等政策制定者的研讨会，广泛分享我们的发现。