The Relationship of Social Capital to Multiple Risk Behaviors Among Older Youth Transitioning from Foster Care

Background and Purpose: Data indicating negative psychosocial outcomes among foster care youth are unmistakable.  For example, compared to their counterparts in the general adolescent population, foster care youth experience significantly higher rates of many lifetime and past-year emotional and behavioral disorders (Pecora, 2009), are more likely to experience pregnancy as teenagers (Dworsky & Courtney, 2010), and are more likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana, as well as drink alcohol regularly (McDonald, Mariscal, Yan, & Brook, 2014).  Those factors that may be salutary or related to lower engagement in various risk behaviors are important to investigate.  In this study, we explore the relationship of indicators of social capital to sexual behavior and the use of alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes among older youth transitioning from foster care, and whether these relationships differed based on racial group membership.

Methods: Participants were 404 youth who were in the care and custody of the Missouri Children’s Division. The average age of youth was 16.99 (SD = .09) years. The analysis for the present study focused on the 385 participants who self-identified as African American (n = 207; 117 females, 90 males) or White non-Hispanic (n= 178; 99 females, 79 males). The following indicators of social capital were assessed: specific background characteristics (e.g., placement type); home help; social religiosity (i.e., church attendance, youth groups); extracurricular activities; and helpful people.

An additive multiple risk measure was created, with scores ranging from 0 to 4. We used linear regression analysis to examine indicators of social capital associated to involvement in multiple risky behaviors.  The model was run separately for African American and White transitioning youth.

Results: Two indicators of social capital were similarly related to engagement in multiple risk behaviors.  Results showed that more frequent church attendance as well as greater participation in extracurricular activities was related to engagement in less risk behaviors for African American and White foster youth.  Divergent findings evolved for placement type and number of placement changes.  For African American youth, engaging in multiple risk behaviors was greater for those in non-kin foster homes compared to those in kinship care.  For White youth, engaging in multiple risk behaviors was greater for those who experienced two and three-or-more placement changes in the past 12 months compared to those who experienced no placement changes in that time period.

Conclusions and Implications: Varied protective mechanisms may explain the inverse relationship of participation in extracurricular activities and church attendance to engagement in multiple risk behaviors. Participation in extracurricular activities may reduce engagement in risk behaviors by fostering skill development, social bonding, and sense of belonging. Attendance at church or religious services likely lessens engagement in risk behaviors by the fostering and adoption of norms that prescribe certain behaviors and discourage others. Concerning background and case characteristics, the type of placement and degree of placement stability may mitigate, contribute to, or be a consequence of engagement in multiple risk behaviors.