Does foster children's poor school performance cause later psychosocial problems? Evidence from national registry data

Objectives: Research has shown that children in out-of-home care are a high-risk group for economic, social and health related problems in young adulthood. Foster children’s poor school performance has been identified as a... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: Research has shown that children in out-of-home care are a high-risk group for economic, social and health related problems in young adulthood. Foster children’s poor school performance has been identified as a major risk factor for these poor later life outcomes. Aiming to support the design of effective intervention strategies, the objective of the research in this presentation was to examine the hypothesized causal effect of foster children’s poor school performance on subsequent psychosocial problems, here conceptualized as economic hardship, illicit drug use, and mental health problems, in young adulthood.

Method: Using the potential outcomes approach, longitudinal register data on more than 7,500 Swedish foster children born 1973-1978 were analyzed by means of doubly robust treatment-effect estimators. The effect of poor school performance was estimated by means of inverse-probability-weighted regression-adjustment, a method that utilizes observed confounding factors to make exposure and outcomes independent once we condition on observables. Additionally, endogenous treatment-effect estimators were used to control for potential influence of selection on unobservables.

Results: The results show that poor school performance among children in out-of-home care has a negative impact on later psychosocial problems net of observed background attributes and potential unobserved confounding factors, suggesting that the estimated effects allow for causal interpretations.

Conclusions: Foster children with poor academic achievements should be regarded as a high-risk group for future adverse outcomes. Since it has been shown that successful prevention programs typically address modifiable risk factors, promotion of school performance may be a viable intervention path for policymakers and practitioners interested in improving foster children’s overall life chances.

Keywords: Foster Care; School Performance; Causal Effect; Longitudinal; Cohort Study