A comparison of mental health
problems
in kinship and nonkinship
foster care
Presentation by
Kemi Ayanfalu
Alec Locascio
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A
comparison of mental health problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(4), 200-7
Introduction
•
•
13% of children in state care are living in kinship care
3 Purposes of Study
– 1. Compare kinship factors in foster care vs non foster care.
– 2. Compare prevalence of mental health problems in kinship and
nonkinship foster care.
– 3. Study associations between psychiatric problems and
placement factors.
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A comparison of mental health
problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(4), 200-7
Methods
•
Participants
– 214 children in the study, 124 of whom were in kinship foster care
– Ages 4-13
– Controlled for variables: age, gender, and duration in present care and age at
first out-of-home placement
• there were no significant difference between kinship vs. nonkinship
differences.
•
Measure
– The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a 120-item questionnaire which is
completed by parents or guardians (foster parents)
– Within the previous 6 months researchers looked at these
variables: Withdrawn Behavior, Somatic Complaints,
Anxiety/Depressed Behavior, Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive
Behavior, Social Problems, Thought Problems, Attention
Problems and Sex Problems.
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A comparison of mentalhealth
problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(4), 200-7
Results
•
•
•
The kinship group had fewer previous out-of-home placements and
were more stable then non-kin ship groups.
The kinship group scored significantly higher than the nonkinship
group on Total Competence and School Competence scales and
lower on the CBCL scales; Total Problems, Withdrawn Behavior
Social Problems, Attention Problems an Delinquent Behavior scales.
Boys and children placed outside their birth community in both
kinship and nonkinship foster care scored significantly lower than
girls on Total Competence, School Competence and Social
Competence and higher on all CBCL scales except Somatic
Complaints, Anxiety/Depressed Behavior and Sex Problems.
– CBLC cutoff points were based on Swedish normative data.
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A comparison of mental health
problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(4), 200-7
Criticisms of Research
• Participants represent a very specific group
– Norwegian youngsters ages 4-13
• Researchers only have one point of view – that of
the foster parent.
– The CVCL reflects one specific view on the child.
• Cross-sectional
– Cannot observe why differences between
kinship/nonkinship
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A comparison of mental health
problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(4), 200-7
Multiple Choice
1. Who scored higher on the Total Competence Test?
a. women b. men c. both scored equally.
2. Where was the study done?
a. Norway b. Nigeria c. Los Angeles
3. What was not one of our criticisms of the study?
a. Participants are too homogeneous.
b. Foster parents have potential biases.
c. The survey questions had poor reliability.
Amy Holtan, John A. Rønning, Bjørn Helge Handegård, André Sourander. (2005). A comparison of
mental health problems in kinship and nonkinship foster care. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,
14(4), 200-7
Multiple Choice (cont.)
4. True/False – The nonkinship group had fewer out of home placements
than the kinship group.
5. True/False – The researchers were specifically looking for differences
in frequency of mental disorders of foster care facilities in Norway
and Sweden.