The Placement of Children in Need of Out-of-Home Care: Forms of Care and Differences in Attachment Security and Behavioral Problems in the Italian Context

Abstract

The current paper investigated differences in secure attachment levels and behavioral problems among four groups of children in out-of-home care in Italy: closed adoption (child and birth parents not in contact following adoption), open adoption (child and birth parents still in contact after placement), foster care (child living temporarily with relatives or unrelated foster parents) and institutional care (child in residential care for large groups of children). One hundred and thirty children aged 10–19 were included in this study. The Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence and the Achenbach Youth Self-Report were employed to measure participants’ secure attachment levels and behavioral problems. Both a multivariate analysis of covariance and measured variable path analysis were performed. Age, gender and time elapsed between the request for child protection and placement on out-of-home care were used as covariates. The results showed that adolescents in closed adoption had higher secure attachment scores than those in foster care and institutional care, while adolescents in open adoption scored significantly higher on problem behaviors than those in the other out-of-home care groups. Findings were discussed in terms of limitations and implications for future research.

Navigating foster care: how parental drug use and caregiver attitudes shape children’s mentalization processes—an exploratory longitudinal follow-up study: study protocol

“…Children’s inclusion criteria for participation are: (1) age between 6 and 12 years, (2) stable mental health status (e.g., no psychotic state), (3) living in foster care for at least 6 months. A minimum of time in a stable and persistent placement needs to be considered to assure the children’s ability to reorganize their internal world and behavioral outcomes ( Cassibba et al, 2023 ). Caregiver’s inclusion criteria are (1) child lives in the same household and (2) 18 years of age or older.…”