Factors favoring psychological resilience among fostered young people

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Abstract

Few studies have examined factors in an out-of-home care sample and explicitly tested these in a predictive model. The purpose of our study was to build an exploratory predictive model of psychological adjustment, defined in terms of anxiety and physical aggression. Participants comprised 220 young people, aged 14 to 17, residing in Ontario, Canada. Selected predictors consisted of the factors most commonly thought to favor positive psychological adjustment among young people. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to test predictive models of psychological adjustment. The findings revealed a significant association between lower levels of anxiety and higher-quality relationships with the female caregiver, a greater number of close friendships, and higher self-esteem. Less frequent physically aggressive behaviors were associated with a smaller number of primary caregivers, higher-quality relationships with the female caregiver, a greater number of close friendships, higher self-esteem, greater use of approach coping strategies, and less frequent use of avoidant coping strategies. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Introduction

Over the past 30 years, research on resilience has endeavored to tease apart the interplay of factors contributing to positive psychological adjustment among at-risk populations of young people. Traditionally, researchers have focused on two essential components of psychological adaptation among adolescents, namely internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Compas et al., 2001, Compas et al., 1989). Internalizing behaviors are often described in terms of anxiety, while externalizing behaviors are described in terms of physical aggression (Fields & Prinz, 1997). Both beneficial and detrimental factors have been investigated, ranging from the contextual (community, interpersonal) to the person level. In the process, researchers have come to identify a set of protective factors that serve to buffer or diminish the effects of risk factors (e.g., poverty) on young people's ability to adapt. Interestingly, these same protective factors have been found to also play a central role in young people's well-being and development in general (i.e., under low adversity conditions; Masten & Reed, 2002).

These factors are of particular interest for the fostered population. Young people who have survived various types of neglect and abuse during childhood are at increased risk of psychological maladjustment (Compas et al., 1989) and the development of psychological difficulties in adulthood (Lynskey & Fergusson, 1997). Indeed, recent study findings show that young people's self-rated levels of anxiety and emotional distress are higher than those of the general Canadian population (Flynn & Biro, 1998, Flynn et al., 2004b), while caregivers have rated young people in foster care as being more physically aggressive (Heflinger et al., 2000, Marcus, 1991). These results are consistent with other findings among children in-care from England (Ward, 1995) and Canada (Stein, Evans, Mazumdar, & Rae-Grant, 1996).

Despite the compelling evidence of maladaptation, a few studies have shown that a fair percentage of fostered young people demonstrate good psychological adjustment and positive outcomes in some life domains (Flynn & Biro, 1998, Flynn et al., 2004b). For example, Flynn & Legault, 2003, Flynn et al., 2004b observed that 10–15 year olds in-care were essentially no different from their peers in the general Canadian population in regard to health, self-esteem, current happiness, hope for the future, pro-social behavior, and high-quality friendships. On the other hand, they also found that fostered young people fared more poorly in terms of educational performance and anxiety/emotional distress compared to their peers in the general population. These studies and others (e.g., Kufeldt et al., 2000, Stein et al., 1996, Ward, 1995) provide a more balanced profile of young people in-care, one which includes adequate psychological adjustment and positive outcomes in some areas, and poor functioning in other areas.

The study of positive adjustment despite multiple serious adverse life circumstances has been the hallmark of resilience research. Defined from a developmental perspective, resilient or positive adaptation implies meeting age-salient developmental tasks in spite of serious threats to development (Masten & Reed, 2002). In reviewing the child welfare and resilience literature, we identified four main clusters of factors that were particularly interesting to explore in a foster care population: (a) descriptive factors, such as gender, age, and number of primary caregivers; (b) past contextual risk factors; (c) currently occurring interpersonal factors, such as parenting style and quality of the relationship with the female caregiver or with friends; and (d) person factors, such as coping strategies and perceived general self-esteem. We begin by briefly reviewing the extant research on factors most commonly thought to contribute to positive psychological adjustment in young people.

Gender and age differences have traditionally been associated with differential psychological adjustment. Broadly speaking, research has found that girls are more anxious than boys and engage in more social relationships in an attempt to deal with their anxiety (Myers, 2001). Physical aggression in young people has also been studied extensively (Coie & Dodge, 1998, Loeber & Farrington, 1998), with boys tending to be more physically aggressive than girls (Griffin, Scheier, Botvin, Diaz, & Miller, 1999). As for placement stability, the number of caregivers while in-care has been associated with differences in levels of anxiety and physical aggression, with a greater number of caregivers associated with increased psychological maladjustment (Rubin et al., 2004). While gender, age, and stability of placement are conceptually interesting, the main purpose of this study was to investigate other predictive factors of psychological adjustment for which empirical evidence has not been as firmly established.

Numerous studies have examined the effects of life events as risk factors relative to psychological adjustment in the general population (e.g., Adams & Adams, 1991, Pine et al., 2002). By and large, research findings indicate that the accumulation by an individual of a large number of negative life events is associated with an increased risk of maladjustment (Bolger & Patterson, 2003). In an in-care population, this accumulation of risk factors often translates itself into a higher frequency of maladaptive behaviors and thus poorer psychological adaptation. Fostered young people, for example, often experience poor quality relationships, use ineffective coping strategies, or abuse drugs and alcohol (e.g., Adams & Adams, 1991, Pine et al., 2002).

Past research findings consistently show that authoritative parenting and the presence of a caring adult are protective factors that promote adaptation under adverse life circumstances and, with the return of good environmental conditions, continue to enhance young people's positive adaptation (Griffin et al., 1999, Lynskey & Fergusson, 1997, Sabatelli & Anderson, 1991). Theoretically, parents or substitute parents are viewed as a conduit through which the negative effect of environmental stressors, such as poverty, on young people's adjustment is either attenuated or exacerbated (Bolger & Patterson, 2003). Regarding friendships, study findings indicate that positive friendships may contribute to buffer or diminish the effects of cumulative risks on outcomes (Griffin et al., 1999, Lynskey & Fergusson, 1997, Masten & Reed, 2002, Sabatelli & Anderson, 1991). Overall, within an in-care population, the parenting system is the main one disturbed both before and sometimes after the youth comes into care (Bolger & Patterson, 2003), thereby rendering him or her particularly vulnerable to maladjustment. Heightened vulnerability may also be experienced when friendship ties are severed following a move to a new placement.

Studies of adolescent coping responses have found approach coping (i.e., cognitive and emotional activity oriented towards the threat or stressor) to be predictive of lower externalizing and internalizing problems and to be positively correlated with better functioning and adaptation (Compas, Malcarne, & Fondacaro, 1988). In contrast, the use of avoidant coping strategies (i.e., cognitive and emotional activity oriented away from the threat or stressor) has been associated with an increased risk of later negative health outcomes.

High self-esteem has been identified as a prominent protective resource that young people can use against daily negative life events (Dumont & Provost, 1999) and, by extension, against adverse life events to reduce their effect as risk factors. High self-esteem has thus been related to lower anxiety levels (Byrne, 2000, Seiffge-Krenke, 1995). This finding was particularly important given that highly anxious young people are more likely to engage in problematic behaviors, such as acting out aggressively. They are also generally disliked by their peers, have poorer self-concepts, as well as lower school achievement and aptitude, compared with less anxious and aggressive adolescents (Byrne, 2000). In addition to its relationship with diminished anxiety, high self-esteem has been associated with the use of successful coping strategies (Seiffge-Krenke, 1995). Individuals with high self-esteem are more likely to engage in problem-focused approach coping strategies, whereas individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to adopt emotion-focused avoidant coping strategies (Thoits, 1995).

Our literature review uncovered a limited amount of research examining psychological adjustment in young people placed in out-of-home care, and we found no well-recognized model of the major predictors associated with psychological adjustment. The purpose of this study was thus to build an exploratory predictive model of psychological adjustment for young people in out-of-home care. Psychological adjustment was defined in terms of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The model included many of the key factors identified in the child welfare and resilience literature associated with better psychological adjustment among young people. In line with past research, we hypothesized that young people in-care would report lower levels of anxiety and physical aggression when: (1) they experienced a lower number of negative life events; (2) their foster parents reported more frequent use of nurturant parenting techniques (a key component of authoritative parenting); (3) they reported a more positive relationship with the female caregiver; (4) they had a greater number of high-quality friendships; (5) they had a higher level of general self-esteem; and (6) they used approach coping strategies more frequently and avoidant coping strategies less frequently. In line with past findings, we further hypothesized that the effects of cumulative risk on anxiety and on physical aggression would be moderated (i.e., buffered) by a nurturant style of parenting, a more positive relationship with the female caregiver, higher-quality friendships, better general self-esteem, more frequent use of approach coping strategies, and less frequent use of avoiding coping strategies. The tested models first controlled for gender, age, and the number of primary caregivers.

Section snippets

Participants

In partnership with the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Society, voluntary participation in a longitudinal study was solicited from local Children's Aid Societies (CASs), child welfare workers, and children and youths in-care. CASs are legally responsible in the province of Ontario for the health and well-being of children and young people in out-of-home care. A total of 26 CASs agreed to fully or partially implement Looking After Children (LAC) (described in the next section). In all,

Descriptive analyses

Prior to analysis, data were examined for accuracy of data entry, missing values, and fit between their distributions and the assumptions of multivariate analysis. All variables were normally distributed, and no outliers were identified. We then examined the pattern of association between the predictive and outcomes factors. Table 1 displays the correlations, means, and standard deviations of the variables in the models. There were significant correlations between anxiety and gender, cumulative

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to build an exploratory predictive model of psychological adjustment for young people in out-of-home care. Results of hierarchical regression analyses provided some, albeit mixed, support for the proposed models of psychological adjustment. Specifically, lower anxiety in young people in out-of-home care was significantly associated with perceptions of a higher-quality relationship with the female caregiver, a greater number of perceived quality friendships, and

Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (strategic grant no. 828-1999-1008), the Ministry of Children and Youth Services of the Province of Ontario, and Human Resources Development Canada. We thank our organizational partners: the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies (Toronto, Ontario), the Child Welfare League of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario), Services to Children and Adults of

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