Predictors of Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescents in Residential Care: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Adolescents in residential care have an increased risk of developing psychosocial problems, however, not all adolescents are equally vulnerable. This study aims to provide a review and methodological evaluation of current studies, which focus on protective and risk factors associated with the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents in residential care. Relevant literature was searched in five databases and we identified 25 publications, which met the inclusion criteria. Information regarding direct/indirect risk and protective factors was organized at the individual, social and contextual levels for different outcomes. The results showed that risk and protective factors, were mainly social and contextual factors. Moreover, very few individual factors were found to be related to psychosocial adjustment. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze each study and showed that some data was poorly or inconsistently reported. This review showed that research on risk and protective factors related to adolescents living in residential care is still limited. Therefore, longitudinal studies with high-quality design and power are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Systematic review
• residential care
• protective factors
• risk factors
• adolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a PhD Scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) granted to the first author (SFRH/BD/101391/2014), and by the FCT funded project CAREME (PTDC/PSI-ESP/28653/2017).

Notes on contributors

Mónica Costa

Mónica Costa, Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto. Her research interests cover the areas of quality of relational care, attachment, emotion regulation and well-being on the development of adolescents in residential care.

Catarina P. Mota

Catarina P. Mota, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist; Psychotherapist; Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro; Researcher on Center for Psychology - Porto University.

Paula M. Matos

Paula M. Matos, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, and member of the Direction Board of the Centre for Psychology at University of Porto, where she coordinates the research group on Relationships, Processes of Change, and Wellbeing. Her research interests include the topics of close relationship dynamics, attachment and emotional processes across different developmental stages and contexts (e.g., family, residential care, transition to adulthood, work-family balance, psycho-oncology, psychotherapy).