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Paper

Asset-building and the Ontario Looking After Children Project: fostering resilient outcomes in children and youth in out-of-home care

abstract

Background and introduction

Young people in the child welfare system have often faced significant adversity from neglect, extreme poverty, parental substance abuse, domestic violence, abandonment, and abuse. Exposure to such risks can impede healthy development and increase the possibility for maladaptive behaviour, mental health issues and lower educational performance. Research suggests that the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets contribute to positive development in young people (Scales et al. 2000). This supports Masten's (2006) theoretical position on resilience, where the building of assets is a basic strategy for increasing positive outcomes.

Purpose

This study explored the relationship between developmental assets and resilience in young people in out-of-home care in Ontario, Canada. The sample was composed of 713 young people, aged 10 - 17 years, living in foster care (including kinship care) or group-home care. They were participants in year 5 of the ongoing Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) project. Most were Crown Wards of their local Children's Aid Societies and had experienced severe adversity in their birth families. We hypothesized that, controlling for gender, age and level of cumulative risk, there would be a positive relationship between the number of developmental assets that the child possessed and his/her level of prosocial behaviour, educational performance, and mental health. The outcome variables consisted of two mental health measures (i.e., the Prosocial and Total Difficulties Scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ]) and one measure of educational performance (i.e., a 3-item scale assessing the foster parent's rating of the child's school performance in reading, mathematics, and overall). The predictor variables included gender (m = 1, f = 2), age (in years), level of cumulative risk (i.e., the foster child's score on an 18-item scale of adverse life experiences since birth), and level of developmental assets (i.e., the foster child's score on a 40-item scale of current developmental assets). All predictors and outcomes were taken from the Assessment and Action Record - Second Canadian Adaptation (AAR-C2, Flynn, Ghazal, and Legault 2006).

Key findings

Study participants had a mean of 27.1 assets (SD = 7.3), out of a total maximum of 40. One percent had 5 - 10 assets, 18% 11 - 20 assets, 42% 21 - 30 assets and 38% 31 - 40 assets. Females had more assets (M = 28.6) than males (M = 26.0). Regression analysis was used to relate the predictor and outcome variables.

For the outcome of prosocial behaviour, only the number of developmental assets was a statistically significant predictor (beta coefficient = .40, p<.001). For the outcome of total difficulties, older children in care had fewer difficulties (beta = -.18, p<.001), those with higher cumulative risk had more difficulties (beta = .09, p<.01), and those with a greater number of developmental assets were much more likely to have fewer difficulties (beta = -.53, p<.001). On the outcome of educational performance, only the child's level of developmental assets was significant (beta = .34, p<.001). Thus, on all three outcomes, youths with a greater number of developmental assets had better mental health and school performance.

Recommendations and implications

The study results suggest that child welfare workers and caregivers should seek ways for children in care to acquire as many developmental assets as possible. The 20 external assets (in the categories of: support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time) and 20 internal assets (commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, positive identity) provide many building blocks to promote more positive outcomes.

Key references

Flynn, R. J., Ghazal, H., and Legault, L. (2006). Looking After Children: Good Parenting, Good Outcomes. Assessment and Action Records. (Second Canadian adaptation, AAR-C2). Ottawa, ON, and London, UK: Centre for Research on Community Services, University of Ottawa and Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).

Masten, A. S. (2006). Promoting resilience in development: A general framework for systems of care. In R.J. Flynn, P.M. Dudding and J.G. Barber (eds) Promoting Resilience in Child Welfare. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.

 Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., Blyth, D.A. (2000) Contribution of developmental assets to the prediction of thriving among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science 4, 1, 27-46.

Contact details

Cynthia Vincent, Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, University of Ottawa, 34 Stewart Street, Ottawa, On, Canada, K1K 1C1.

Email: cvincent@uottawa.ca

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