Foster care in Chile: initial adversity and psychological adjustment of children

Important advances have been made in recent years in the field of child protection in Chile, being especially relevant those implemented in relation to foster care. In this context, research was conducted with the aim of... [ view full abstract ]

Important advances have been made in recent years in the field of child protection in Chile, being especially relevant those implemented in relation to foster care. In this context, research was conducted with the aim of knowing how foster care placement was functioning, what profiles and features foster families had and what the level of development and psychological adjustment of the fostered children was. The sample was composed of 158 foster children between 4-12 years old and an equal number of foster families of kinship and non-kinship modalities residing in the Metropolitan Region of Chile.
The research was realized through home visits. Information and data for the present study come from professional documentation cases, interviews with the families and the application of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). An index of cumulative adversity was composed to assess the level of adversity suffered by children prior to their foster placement, containing a total of 12 risk variables. At the time of the study, the children had been in foster care an average of 5 years.
The profile of boys and girls in foster care in Chile is characterized by a high-level of adversity and the presence of adaptation and adjustment problems. With regards to their history of adversity prior to placement, the children show a greater accumulation of problems and difficulties in comparison with other countries. The average level of initial adversity suffered by the children was 3.9, an amount which stresses the greater presence of risk factors such as child abuse, history of residential care, problems during pregnancy, diseases, delays in development, presence of psychological problems, etc. Data also indicate that the adversity level was higher in non-kinship foster children than in those fostered by kinship families. Respect to adaptation, the presence of difficulties in psychological and behavioral adjustment at the time of the study stands out, with a high percentage of children who obtained scores in the clinical range of SDQ, indicating the possible need for intervention. In addition, data from the study show a high correlation between the level of previous adversity suffered by the children and their scores of difficulties in psychological adjustment years after placement. Finally, data from the study do not allow for differentiation in this general profile between boys and girls.
Experiences of adversity are common in children who pass through protection services. Protection measures such as foster care serve to repair these damages. However, our study seems to indicate that, beyond the profiles and specific capabilities of foster families, children exposed to high levels of adversity may require specific support and specialized professional interventions in order to prevent problems and contribute to better psychological adjustment during foster care.