![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Studies consistently indicate that young people aging-out of residential care (care-leavers) struggle in multiple life domains more than their age group. Relatively few studies, however, have focused on care leavers’ Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and their life satisfaction, or examined what factors may predict it.
The proposed presentation focuses on a longitudinal study which examined whether life satisfaction changes between one and four years after leaving care. It then presented a model predicting life satisfaction of Israeli care leavers based on their personal resources and the formal and informal support at several waves. Lastly, the study explored care leavers’ life stories to better understand their perspectives on factors impacting their life satisfaction.
Method
Mixed-methods and longitudinal approaches were used. The quantitative sample included 276 adolescents during their last year in care (T1), 234 one year later (T2) and 220 three years later (T3). At T3, the response rate of the original sample was 80.4%. Validated questionnaires examined personal resources at T1 (including self-esteem and self-efficacy), support from parents and friends during all three waves, and formal support at T3. A hierarchical regression was conducted to examine the contribution of personal and environmental resources to predicting life satisfaction at T3. This study used a mixed-methods approach to enrich the quantitative data as well as to broaden our understanding of contributors to SWB and life satisfaction. Sixteen narrative interviews were conducted at T3. Content analysis of the qualitative data was conducted by two researchers.
Results
The quantitative findings showed that the change in life satisfaction between one year after care to four years after care was not significant. Background variables, personal and environmental resources accounted for 36% of the variance in life satisfaction at T3. The self-efficacy to deal with independent life tasks at T1 was strongly associated with life satisfaction four years later. Parental and peer support (T3) also contributed significantly to predicting life satisfaction.
Using care leavers’ life stories, we gained a broader understanding of the differences in the young people’s satisfaction with their current lives. The qualitative findings highlighted the complexity of care leavers' relationships with their birth parents and four different patterns of family relationships emerged. While some experienced these relationships as contributing to their life satisfaction, others see them as a source of their emotional distress. For some, missing parental support is related to their emotional distress, while others felt the need to avoid relationships with their parents in order to protect their life satisfaction. The interviews also demonstrated the potential contribution of other types of resources including siblings, romantic partners and formal support from practitioners in residential care.
Conclusions and implications
To enhance care leavers’ life satisfaction, practitioners should empower them to increase their personal resources and particularly their self-efficacy before leaving care. Various interventions should be used in and after care to help birth parents become a source of support for their children. Future quantitative studies should examine the perceived contribution of the different support resources to life satisfaction of care leavers.