Israeli Care-Leavers' Social Support Networks: A Test of Three Alternative Models of Their Effects on the Relationship Between Childhood Negative Life Events and Well-Being and Functioning

Background and Purpose: Care-leavers' well-documented poor outcomes are often seen in light of the multiple experiences of abuse, neglect and other adversities they have experienced growing up and while in care. The mechanisms, linking these adverse past experiences to the challenges they face when transitioning to adulthood, are yet largely unexplored. The characteristics of youths' social support networks may play an important role in the relationship between past negative experiences and how care-leavers cope later in life. This study examines three alternative models (compensating, mediating and moderating) as to how social support network characteristics impact the link between past negative experiences and current functioning of care-leavers.

Methods: The sample consists of 345 Israeli care-leavers (52.2% females, mean age 20.78; SD = 1.78) who were formerly placed in child welfare foster (12.8%) or residential care (44.9%), or educational residential facilities (42.3%). At the time of the study they were in a range of living arrangements: independent, supported group in the community, and with parents. The young people responded to standardized self-report questionnaires administered by the researchers face-to-face or via phone. Measures included social support network characteristics (e.g., network size or sufficiency) vis-à-vis several types of social support (i.e., instrumental, affective, informational; an adapted version of the SSNQ), childhood and adolescent negative life events, and measures of well-being (BSI-18; α = 0.91; loneliness, R-UCLA-LS, α = 0.94; life satisfaction, SLSS, α = 0.84), and functioning (adjustment to work or military service, SAAQ, α = 0.85; accommodation and economic hardship). 

Results: SEM provided support for the models for all types of social support: instrumental (χ ²(170) = 290.68***; CFI = .96; TLI = .94; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .04), affective (χ ²(170) = 285.36***; CFI = .96; TLI = .94; RMSEA = .04; SRMR = .04), and informational (χ ²(170) = 288.32***; CFI = .96; TLI = .94; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .04). Path patterns in all types of support were similar: Associations found between early negative life events and care-leavers’ outcomes were largely mediated by network characteristics. For example instrumental network size, sufficiency, frequency of contact and satisfaction were all negatively related to early adversity and in turn contributed to increased levels of psychological symptoms, decreased levels of life satisfaction as well as greater economic hardships, and adjustment difficulties.  Direct effects of network characteristics (e.g., network sufficiency or frequency of contact with supporters) on outcomes, after controlling for past adversity, suggest their additional compensating role. There were no significant moderating effects.

Conclusions and Implications: The study points to the salient role social support networks may have in mediating, as well as compensating for some of, the effects of childhood traumatic experiences on care-leavers’ adult outcomes. It suggests that helping these young people develop larger, more closely knit and more sufficient social support networks during and after care should be an important goal for intervention that may help care-leavers overcome the impact of negative childhood experiences.