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Cognitive, educational and self-support outcomes of long-term foster care versus adoption. A Swedish national cohort study
- Authors:
- VINNERLJUNG Bo, HJERN Anders
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 33(10), October 2011, pp.1902-1910.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study compares the long-term outcomes of long-term foster care and adoption for children who come into the child welfare system at a young age. The study links data from 10 national registers for all Swedish born individuals born from 1972 to 1981. Three groups were identified: 3,062 people in long-term foster care; 899 people adopted before age 7; and 900,418 majority population peers for comparison. Cognitive, educational and self-support outcomes were compared for the adoptees with those who grew up in foster care. The analyses were adjusted for birth parental related confounding factors (mental health problems, substance abuse and maternal education), and age at placement in substitute care. The results showed that the outcomes for both groups in substitute care were substantially weaker than those for the majority population peers. In addition, the results for foster children fell clearly short of adoptees on all outcomes, including school performance at 15, cognitive competence at 18, and educational achievement and self-support capability in young adult years. The results provide support for the importance of adoption in permanency planning
Foster parents in Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care: how do they deal with implementing standardized treatment components?
- Authors:
- WESTERMARK Pia Kyhle, HANSSON Kjell, VINNERLJUNG Bo
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 29(4), April 2007, pp.442-459.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This article focuses upon 28 Swedish foster parents and their experience of working in a manual-based treatment program – Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) – focusing on treating troubled youth. Using interviews and questionnaires, the study addresses how foster parents perceive the components and core terms specific to MTFC. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Interestingly, 80% of the foster parents as a group rated all the program components the highest possible positive value. From the qualitative analysis a difference appeared between the foster parents about the view on foster parenthood and the attitudes towards the program. One group perceived themselves as professionals and accepted the program. The second group, although seeing themselves as professionals found it difficult to accept the program. The third group viewed foster parenthood as a ‘way of life’. The highlight of this study is the overwhelmingly positive attitude towards the MTFC program manual. It appears that 24-hours a day access to “treatment tools” and a treatment team, are very important inputs for the satisfaction of foster parents.
Outcomes in adulthood after long-term foster care: a sibling approach
- Authors:
- BRANNSTROM Lars, VINNERLJUNG Bo, HJERN Anders
- Journal article citation:
- Child Maltreatment, 25(4), 2020, pp.383-392.
- Publisher:
- Sage
When a child is removed from their home and placed in foster care, society takes over the responsibility for that child’s well-being and development. Failure to provide a child with a nurturing upbringing may have negative consequences for the child as well as for society. Using Swedish longitudinal registry data for a national cohort sample of siblings, in which some were placed in foster care and others remained in their birth parents’ care, this study asks whether long-term foster care ensures improved life chances. Results from multilevel regression analyses of a wide range of educational, social, and health-related outcomes in mature adult age (16 outcome constructs) support a row of previous studies indicating that traditional long-term foster care does not seem to improve maltreated children’s life chances. (Publisher abstract)
Improving foster children’s school performance: a replication of the Helsingborg study
- Authors:
- TORDON Rikard, VINNERLJUNG Bo, AXELSSON Ulla
- Journal article citation:
- Adoption and Fostering, 38(1), 2014, pp.37-48.
- Publisher:
- Sage
A replication of the Helsingborg study was conducted in the municipality of Norrköping, Sweden in 2008–2011. The results confirm the conclusions from the original study that children in foster care can benefit from a working model aimed to improve school performance. A possible way to address poor numeracy skills by computerised working memory training was also identified. Implications for further research in active interventions to address underachieving foster children are discussed. (Edited publisher abstract)
School performance in primary school and psychosocial problems in young adulthood among care leavers from long term foster care
- Authors:
- BERLIN Marie, VINNERLJUNG Bo, HJERN Anders
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 33(12), December 2011, pp.2489-2497.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study investigated the psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood for youth that left long term foster care after age 17, comparing them with majority population peers, national adoptees and peers who had received in-home interventions before age 13. Data were drawn from Swedish national registers for ten entire birth year cohorts between 1972 and 1981. The population was followed in the registers from age 16 to 2005. Findings revealed that those that had left long term foster care had elevated risks for suicide attempts, substance abuse and serious criminality from age 20 and for public welfare dependency at age 25. They had substantially poorer school performance than majority population peers, and had lower chances of getting a secondary education. Poor school performance seemed to be a major risk factor for future psychosocial problems among those who age out of long term foster care. Up to 55% of excess risks could be explained by poor school performance suggesting that promoting foster children's school performance should be given high priority.
The epidemiology of out-of-home care for children and youth: a national cohort study
- Authors:
- FRANZEN Eva, VINNERLJUNG Bo, HJERN Anders
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 38(6), September 2008, pp.1043-1059.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Data were used from several national registers for fifteen entire cohorts (n > 1.5 million) of Swedish children and youth to examine the influence of parental socio-economic background on the risk of entry into out-of-home care. Logistic regression models were used to analyse the statistical impact of twelve background variables, including parental psycho-social risk markers. The results confirm and expand findings from a classic study by Bebbington and Miles, published in 1989. After controlling for other background variables, including parent hospitalizations for attempted suicide, psychiatric disorders or addiction problems, children of single mothers had three to four-fold higher odds of entering care than children from two-parent households. Low maternal education and receipt of social assistance were strongly associated with higher odds for care entries. Aggregations of socio-economic risk factors increased dramatically the risk of entering care. Among pre-school children with mothers who had received basic education only, were unemployed and received social assistance during three consecutive years, one in seven was placed in care before their seventh birthday. Among same-age children from two-parent families whose mothers were educated to post-secondary level, were employed and had not received social assistance for three consecutive years in the middle of the observation period, fewer than one in 2,000 entered care.
Breakdown in teenager's placement in foster homes and institutions
- Authors:
- VINNERLJUNG Bo, SALLNÄS Marie, WESTERMARK Pia Kyhle
- Journal article citation:
- Nordisk Sosialt Arbeid, 22(1), 2001, pp.24-34.
- Publisher:
- Universitetsforlaget AS
Reports on an extensive study of a nationally representative sample of case documents from over 200 Swedish municipalities has examined how common it is for teenagers' placements to break down, and the factors contributing to this.
Alcohol and drug abuse among young adults who grew up in substitute care - findings from a Swedish national cohort study
- Authors:
- von BORCZYSKOWSKI Annika, VINNERLJUNG Bo, HJERN Anders
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12), 2013, p.1954–1961.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
To what extent substitute long term care modifies intergenerational transmission of substance abuse has rarely been investigated. Using register data, we followed a national cohort born 1973–1985 consisting of 1012 national adoptees, 2408 former children from long term foster care, 348/846 environmental siblings of adoptees/foster children, and 952,935 majority population peers, from their 15th birthday to age 27–35. Using Cox regression, the authors calculated hazard ratios (HR) for hospital care and criminality associated with illicit drug/alcohol abuse, with adjustments for socio-demographic indicators of caring families, and substance abuse in caring and birth parents. Among 37% of foster children, 9% of adoptees, and 1% of majority population peers, both birth parents had indications of substance abuse. In age/sex adjusted models foster children had four to sevenfold elevated HR for substance abuse outcomes, and adoptees two to threefold HR, in comparison with majority population peers. Estimates were only marginally attenuated after adjustments for socio-demographic indicators and morbidity of caring parents. After adjustments for birth parental substance abuse, HR decreased to around 1.5 for adoptees and foster children equally. Biological children of substitute parents did not differ substantially from majority population peers. (Publisher abstract)
Teenage parenthood among child welfare clients: a Swedish national cohort study of prevalence and odds
- Authors:
- VINNERLJUNG Bo, FRANZEN Eva, DANIELSSON Maria
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Adolescence, 30(1), February 2007, pp.97-116.
- Publisher:
- Academic Press
To assess prevalence and odds for teenage parenthood among former child welfare clients, the authors used national register data for all children born in Sweden 1972–1983 (n=1,178,207), including 49,582 former child welfare clients with varying intervention experiences. Logistic regression models, adjusted for demographic, socio-economic and familial background factors, were used to estimate odds ratios. Among youth who received interventions in adolescence, 16-19% of the girls and 5–6% of the boys became teenage parents, compared to 3% for girls and 0.7% for boys without child welfare experiences. Youths who entered child welfare services in their teens had four- to fivefold adjusted odds for becoming a teenage parent. For other child welfare clients, adjusted odds were mostly twofold. Youth of both sexes who receive child welfare services in adolescence are a high-risk group for teenage parenthood. Child welfare agencies should, as a minimum, provide each individual client youth with access to birth control counselling and contraceptives.
Mortality after care among young adult foster children in Sweden
- Authors:
- VINNERLJUNG Bo, RIBE Martin
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 10(3), July 2001, pp.164-173.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This exploratory study looks at mortality after care among former Swedish foster children, placed before their teens. Risk ratios of death for foster children are compared with those of their peers in the general population and with a comparison group, consisting of young adults from adverse home backgrounds, who never entered foster family care before their teens. Results show a moderately elevated risk ration for both groups compared with peers in the general population, mainly due to more frequent unnatural deaths, especially suicides.