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Do maltreated children who remain at home function better than those who are placed?

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  • Mennen, Ferol E.
  • Brensilver, Matthew
  • Trickett, Penelope K.

Abstract

The majority of children in the child welfare system remain with their maltreating parents, yet little is known about their level of functioning and whether they are in need of mental health intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mental health functioning of an ethnically diverse sample of 302 maltreated children and 151 non maltreated children ages 9-12 to see if there were differences between those who remained at home, those placed in kin care, non-relative foster care or a comparison group of children who were not maltreated. Children were evaluated on multiple measures of mental health functioning, both self report and caregiver report. Results showed that the maltreated children did not differ by placement type but did score significantly higher than the comparison children on many measures. There were substantial numbers of maltreated children scoring in the clinical range of measures in all placement types with over 60% of those remaining with birth parents being seen as functioning at a level that indicated a need for mental health intervention. While fewer comparison children had scores indicating a need for mental health care, the numbers were higher than noted in national studies. Implications of the findings are presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Mennen, Ferol E. & Brensilver, Matthew & Trickett, Penelope K., 2010. "Do maltreated children who remain at home function better than those who are placed?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1675-1682, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:32:y:2010:i:12:p:1675-1682
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Feely, Megan & Seay, Kristen D. & Loomis, Alysse M., 2019. "Harsh physical punishment as a mediator between income, re-reports and out-of-home placement in a child protective services-involved population," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 70-78.
    2. Mersky, Joshua P. & Janczewski, Colleen, 2013. "Adult well-being of foster care alumni: Comparisons to other child welfare recipients and a non-child welfare sample in a high-risk, urban setting," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 367-376.
    3. Farruggia, Susan P. & Germo, Gary R., 2015. "Problem behavior among older youth in foster care: Examining gender," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 20-30.
    4. Kim, Minseop & Garcia, Antonio R. & Jung, Nahri & Barnhart, Sheila, 2020. "Rates and predictors of mental health service use among dual system youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Davidson-Arad, Bilha & Navaro-Bitton, Iris, 2015. "Resilience among adolescents in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 63-70.
    6. Schneiderman, Janet U. & Negriff, Sonya & Trickett, Penelope K., 2016. "Self-report of health problems and health care use among maltreated and comparison adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-5.
    7. Dubois-Comtois, Karine & Bussières, Eve-Line & Cyr, Chantal & St-Onge, Janie & Baudry, Claire & Milot, Tristan & Labbé, Annie-Pier, 2021. "Are children and adolescents in foster care at greater risk of mental health problems than their counterparts? A meta-analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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