Out-of-home care characteristics associated with childhood educational underachievement, mental disorder, and police contacts in an Australian population sample

Kirstie O'Hare; Stacy Tzoumakis; Oliver Watkeys; Ilan Katz; Kristin R Laurens; Merran Butler; Felicity Harris; Vaughan J Carr; Melissa J Green

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106120

Out-of-home care characteristics associated with childhood educational underachievement, mental disorder, and police contacts in an Australian population sample

Child Abuse Negl. 2023 May:139:106120. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106120. Epub 2023 Feb 28.

Authors

Kirstie O'Hare¹, Stacy Tzoumakis², Oliver Watkeys¹, Ilan Katz³, Kristin R Laurens⁴, Merran Butler⁵, Felicity Harris¹, Vaughan J Carr⁶, Melissa J Green⁷

Affiliations

¹ Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Southport, Australia.
³ Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Psychology and Counselling, Brisbane, Australia.
⁵ New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice, Australia.
⁶ Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: melissa.green@unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 36863202
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106120

Abstract

Background: Children in out-of-home care (OOHC) are generally at increased risk of health and social adversities compared to their peers. However, the experiences of children in OOHC are not uniform and their associated health and social indices may vary in relation to characteristics of OOHC placements and child protection contact.

Objective: To examine associations between a range of characteristics of OOHC placements and child protection contact (e.g., number, type, and age of placement) with educational underachievement, mental disorder, and police contact (as a victim, witness, or person of interest) in childhood.

Participants and setting: Participants were Australian children drawn from the New South Wales Child Development Study cohort who had been placed in OOHC at least once between the ages of 0-13 years (n = 2082).

Methods: Logistic regression was used to examine prospective associations of OOHC placement and child protection contact characteristics (type of carer, placement instability, duration and frequency of maltreatment, and amount of time in care) with educational underachievement, mental disorder diagnosis and any type of police contact.

Results: Placements with foster carers, greater placement instability, longer and more frequent exposure to maltreatment, and longer time spent in care were each associated with greater likelihood of consequences in all domains of functioning.

Conclusions: Children with certain placement characteristics are at higher risk of adverse consequences and should be prioritised for support services. The magnitude of relationships was not uniform across different health and social indices, highlighting the need for holistic, multiagency approaches to support children placed in care.

Keywords: Academic achievement; Foster care; Mental disorders; Police; Record linkage.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Australia / epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Foster Home Care
Home Care Services*
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Mental Disorders* / epidemiology
Police
Underachievement