Maltreatment and Mental Health in Older Foster Youth

说明(申请人提供)：18岁时从儿童福利制度中解放出来的青少年必须在没有持续支持保证的情况下突然协商过渡到独立的成年人。老年寄养青年的精神健康问题的性质和严重性具有重要影响，因为患有精神障碍的青少年更有可能在成年后产生负面结果。由于虐待、忽视、遗弃或父母能力丧失的病史，以及暴露于与精神病理学发展相关的多种其他家庭和环境条件，被国家拘留的青少年面临精神障碍的风险，这项研究涉及对一个大型数据集进行二次分析，该数据集是从三个中西部州儿童福利机构抽样得出的，这些青少年年龄在17岁或以上，并已被寄养至少一年。通过结构化诊断性面谈(CIDI)评估精神健康状况，并获得关于他们遭受虐待的经历、儿童福利系统的历史、服务利用、关系网络和社会支持以及心理社会和适应功能的信息。文中提出了几点分析。首先，将审查精神健康障碍的性质、流行率和共病，以及根据个人和系统层面的因素(例如寄养安置的类型)而发生的变化。其次，潜在类别分析将确定经历过的特定虐待和忽视模式，并将调查这些虐待特征，以寻找与特定精神健康障碍的特定对应。第三，将调查虐待和精神健康之间的联系被社会支持和成功的寄养干预所缓和的可能性。最后，分类和回归树分析(CART)将用于个人、虐待和儿童福利因素，以开发一个预测模型，以确定可能出现心理健康问题的青少年。需要了解寄养青年中与心理健康问题有关的因素和过程，以便提供有针对性的预防干预和治疗服务，帮助他们应对向独立的过渡。此外，研究这一人群提供了独特的机会来研究创伤和心理社会因素如何与青春期后期的心理健康有关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adolescents emancipated from the child welfare system at 18 years of age must negotiate the transition to independent adulthood suddenly and without guarantees of continuing support. The nature and severity of mental health problems among older foster youth has important implications because negative outcomes in adulthood are more likely for adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Adolescents in state custody are at risk for psychiatric disorders due to histories of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or parental incapacity and exposure to multiple other familial and environmental conditions associated with the development of psychopathology, This study involves secondary analysis of a large dataset derived by sampling all youth from three Midwestern state child welfare agencies who were 17 years or older and had been in foster care for at least one year. Mental health was assessed with a structured diagnostic interview (CIDI), and information was obtained on their experience of maltreatment, history in the child welfare system, utilization of services, relationship networks and social support, and psychosocial and adaptive functioning. Several analyses are proposed. First, the nature, prevalence, and comorbidity of mental health disorders will be examined, along with variations according to individual and system-level factors (e.g., type of foster placements). Second, latent class analysis will identify particular patterns of abuse and neglect experienced, and these maltreatment profiles will be investigated for specific correspondences with particular mental health disorders. Third, the possibility that links between maltreatment and mental health are moderated by social support and successful foster care intervention will be investigated. Finally, classification and regression tree analysis (CART) will be used on individual, maltreatment, and child welfare factors to develop a predictive model to identify youth likely to exhibit mental health problems. Knowledge of factors and processes associated with mental health problems among foster youth is necessary for providing targeted preventive interventions and treatment services to help them cope with the transition to independence. Furthermore, studying this population presents unique opportunities to examine how trauma and psychosocial factors are linked to mental health in late adolescence.