Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Oct:48:80-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.007. Epub 2015 Jul 22.

Positive change following adversity and psychological adjustment over time in abused foster youth

Christine E Valdez  1 , Ban Hong Phylice Lim  1 , Christopher P Parker  1
Affiliations

Positive change following adversity and psychological adjustment over time in abused foster youth

Christine E Valdez et al. Child Abuse Negl. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Many foster youth experience maltreatment in their family-of-origin and additional maltreatment while in foster care. Not surprisingly, rates of depression are higher in foster youth than the general population, and peak during ages 17-19 during the stressful transition into adulthood. However, no known studies have reported on whether foster youth perceive positive changes following such adversity, and whether positive change facilitates psychological adjustment over time. The current study examined components of positive change (i.e., compassion for others and self-efficacy) with depression severity from age 17 to 18 as youth prepared to exit foster care. Participants were youth from the Mental Health Service Use of Youth Leaving Foster Care study who endorsed child maltreatment. Components of positive change and severity of abuse were measured initially. Depression was measured initially and every three months over the following year. Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the course of depression as a function of initial levels of positive change and severity of abuse. Results revealed that decreases in depression followed an inverse quadratic function in which the steepest declines occurred in the first three months and leveled off after that. Severity of abuse was positively correlated with higher initial levels of depression and negatively correlated with decreases in depression. Greater self-efficacy was negatively associated with initial levels of depression and predicted decreases in depression over the year, whereas compassion for others was neither associated with initial depression nor changes in depression. Implications for intervention, theory, and research are discussed.

Keywords: Child maltreatment; Depression; Foster youth; Growth model; Perceived benefits; Posttraumatic growth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Depression severity predicted by severity of abuse, enhanced self-efficacy, and increased compassion for others.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bandura A. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review. 1977;84:191–215. - PubMed
    1. Benight CC, Bandura A. Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2004;42:1129–1148. - PubMed
    1. Bentler PM. Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin. 1990;107:238–246. - PubMed
    1. Bentler PM, Bonett DG. Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin. 1980;88:588–606.
    1. Bernstein DP, Ahluvalia T, Pogge D, Handelsman L. Validity of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in an adolescent psychiatric population. of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 1997;36(3):340–348. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms