Abstract
The etiology of poor mental health outcomes among foster care alumni of color remains largely unknown. We examined the influence of a subset of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), placement instability, and childhood disability in uniquely predicting mental health outcomes among racially diverse foster care alumni from a private foster care agency. Multiple group path modeling was used to examine direct and indirect relationships between the individual level risk factors, mediators (perceived agency helpfulness), and past-year psychiatric disorder. Results showed that while the overall model was moderated by race/ethnicity, no significant group differences occurred in which ACEs increased the likelihood of psychiatric diagnoses. However, there were racial/ethnic differences in whether perceived agency helpfulness mediated the relationship between a subset of ACEs and diagnosis with a psychiatric disorder. Implications for future research to inform the development and implementation of effective services and supports that can promote positive developmental outcomes among racially diverse alumni are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3293-3305 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Child and Family Studies |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Keywords
- Adverse childhood
- Child welfare
- Foster care alumni
- Independent living
- Mental health
- Race disparity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies