Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills
06:52

Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills

Published on: September 17, 2019

5.8K

Changes in Placement among Children in Foster Care: A Longitudinal Study of Child and Case Influences

Christian M Connell1, Jeffrey J Vanderploeg1, Paul Flaspohler1

  • 1Yale University.

The Social Service Review
|October 25, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Half of children in foster care experience placement changes. Risk increases with age, with infants being most stable. Emergency shelters pose the highest risk for placement disruption.

Area of Science:

  • Child Welfare Research
  • Pediatric Health Outcomes
  • Social Work Practice

Background:

  • Children in foster care often experience multiple placements, impacting stability and well-being.
  • Understanding factors influencing placement changes is crucial for improving child welfare services.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify child and case characteristics associated with placement changes in foster care.
  • To analyze the risk of placement changes across different foster care settings.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study design analyzing data from 5,909 Rhode Island children in foster care.
  • Cox regression modeling used to examine predictors of placement changes.
  • Inclusion of child demographics, reasons for removal, and prior placement history.

Main Results:

  • Approximately 50% of children experienced at least one placement change.
  • Placement change risk increased with child age, with infants showing the lowest risk.
  • Emergency shelters presented the highest risk, followed by nonrelative, group home, and relative foster care settings.
  • Reasons for removal and previous placement history were significant predictors.

Conclusions:

  • Child age and foster care setting are key factors influencing placement stability.
  • Interventions should consider age-specific needs and aim to reduce transitions, particularly from high-risk settings.
  • Further research into the interaction between setting and child characteristics is warranted.

More Related Videos

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents06:15

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents

Published on: July 10, 2017

15.8K
Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia13:08

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia

Published on: December 2, 2015

8.1K

Related Concept Videos

Longitudinal Research02:20

Longitudinal Research

Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...
11.7K
Longitudinal Studies01:26

Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal studies are also widely used in other medical and social science fields. For instance, in cardiovascular research, they can monitor patients' health over decades to identify risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or smoking, and evaluate the long-term effectiveness of preventive measures. Similarly, in mental health studies, researchers might follow individuals from adolescence into adulthood to understand the development and progression of conditions like...
697
Cross-Sectional Research01:50

Cross-Sectional Research

In cross-sectional research, a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time. If they were interested in people's dietary habits, the researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age. Instead of following a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old...
11.5K
Case Studies01:22

Case Studies

There are many research methods available to psychologists in their efforts to understand, describe, and explain behavior and the cognitive and biological processes that underlie it.
11.2K
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
776
Attachment Styles01:24

Attachment Styles

Jeffrey Simpson's attachment theory suggests that early caregiver relationships shape lasting patterns of behavior and emotional regulation, known as attachment styles. These patterns are organized along two key dimensions: self-esteem and interpersonal trust. The intersection of these dimensions produces four primary attachment styles that typically persist throughout life and significantly influence how individuals form and maintain relationships.Secure Attachment StyleIndividuals with a...
777