Placements dans l’enfance et devenir à l’âge adulte : insertion générale et qualité de vie liée à la santé

Background

Child welfare literature underlines a higher prevalence of health problems and psychiatric disabilities in fostered young people than in the general population. Questions remain about their social integration and health in the long term: Which risk factors continue to alter their pathway? Which protective factors have minimized a problematic psychosocial adaptation over time?

Purpose

A follow-up study in the past was conducted on a SOS children's village on 123 young people who had been reared for more than 3 years and left care after the age of 14. A survey was mailed to these adults aged 23–50 years old, followed by face-to-face interviews. All relevant institutional files were analysed. Attrition rates were very low in this high-risk population. An overall score of social integration aggregates data regarding: occupational situation, family life, relationships, general psychosocial state. Health-related quality of life (Duke Profile) was analyzed by means of multiple dimensions including mental and social health, self-esteem, depression and disability. Multivariate analyses by logistic regression were used to examine the specific roles of decisive factors on social integration.

Key findings

At a mean age of 36.5 years, two thirds were well integrated socio-economically, only one out of five had psychosocial problems. Three factors increased the risk of poor socioeconomic integration: accumulation of parental risk factors, having been placed with two or more siblings’ groups and persisting mental health problems when leaving care. The quality of life was significantly associated with a better perception of social and mental health and with self-esteem. It varied positively, taken into account with professional integration, relationships and supportive environment, and negatively according to past adversities: parental domestic violence, maltreatment, and persisting mental health problems. Except from disabilities and to a lesser degree sociability, globally, these former fostered population did not seem different from counterparts in terms of health measures, anxiety and depression.

Implications

Results highlight the importance of continuity and stability in placement. For the professionals, it is necessary to give more attention to the question of rearing together several groups of siblings. Persisting mental health problems during placement and when leaving care would suggest a vital need for the staff to identify and to implement intensive, appropriate therapeutic care.