Author : Inseon Lee
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 114 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (551 download)
Book Synopsis Developmental Trajectories of Behavior Problems of Youth Involved in Child Welfare by : Inseon Lee
Download or read book Developmental Trajectories of Behavior Problems of Youth Involved in Child Welfare written by Inseon Lee and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation examined the developmental trajectories of adolescent youth involved with the child welfare system, particularly focusing on their externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems. The study investigated how adolescents' relationships with caregivers and peers change over time and how they affect these behavioral outcomes. The study also explored whether removing youth from their biological family predicted distinct trajectories of behavior functioning compared to those who remained at home. Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), a national probability sample of children and adolescents who have contact with child protective services. Two types of structural equation modeling (SEM), latent growth curve modeling and cross-lagged designs were conducted using M-Plus. All analyses were conducted with sample weights. Youths reported significantly decreasing internalizing behavior problems over the study period of 36 months. On the other hand, externalizing problems remained considerably stable over time. In order to investigate if youth had different development trajectories depending on whether they stayed at home or were placed in out-of-home care, the sample was divided into four placement groups, i.e., out-of-home youth, in-home youth, the initial out-of-home youth (those who returned home later), and the initial in-home youth (those who were removed from home later). When group differences were investigated, youths did not show significant differences in the initial levels and rates of change of internalizing or externalizing problems over time. In addition, relationships with caregivers and peers were found to be comparable across four groups. Caregiver and peer relationships were significantly related to youths' internalizing and externalizing problems at baseline as well as over time. When temporal causal relations among caregiver relationships, peer relationships, and behavior problems were investigated, externalizing problems of youth at 18 months were found to affect their caregiver and peer relationships at 36 months.