Trial reportTrials2015
Challenges to undertaking randomised trials with looked after children in social care settings.
Trial report in Trials, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Experiences and perspectives of children and adolescents participating in pediatric clinical trials: a qualitative evidence synthesis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions for Children and Young People in Foster, Kinship, and Residential Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2024Pooled it
- What is the Impact of Placement Type on Educational and Health Outcomes of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors? A Systematic Review of the Evidence.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2018Pooled it
- A modified video-feedback intervention for carers of foster children aged 6 years and under with reactive attachment disorder: a feasibility study and pilot RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Models of housing and support to reduce risks of COVID-19 infection and homelessness: the moving on pilot randomised controlled trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Mortality outcomes of children and young people who have spent time in care: evidence from Children's Health in Care in Scotland, a population-wide administrative data cohort study.Archives of disease in childhood · 2025Article
- Interventions for pre-school children in foster care: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of child-related outcomes.JCPP advances · 2025Article
- Article
- Implementing a healthy lifestyle program in residential out-of-home care: What matters, what works and what translates?Health & social care in the community · 2022Article
- Article
- Improved Intelligence, Literacy and Mathematic Skills Following School-Based Intervention for Children in Foster Care.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Observational
- The Herts and Minds study: feasibility of a randomised controlled trial of Mentalization-Based Treatment versus usual care to support the wellbeing of children in foster care.BMC psychiatry · 2019Article
- Article
- Systematic review of educational interventions for looked-after children and young people: Recommendations for intervention development and evaluation.British educational research journal · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) are widely viewed as the gold standard for assessing effectiveness in health research; however many researchers and practitioners believe that RCTs are inappropriate and un-doable in social care settings, particularly in relation to looked after children. The aim of this article is to describe the challenges faced in conducting a pilot study and phase II RCT of a peer mentoring intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy in looked after children in a social care setting.
methodsInterviews were undertaken with social care professionals and looked after children, and a survey conducted with looked after children, to establish the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and research design.
resultsBarriers to recruitment and in managing the intervention were identified, including social workers acting as informal gatekeepers; social workers concerns and misconceptions about the recruitment criteria and the need for and purpose of randomisation; resource limitations, which made it difficult to prioritise research over other demands on their time and difficulties in engaging and retaining looked after children in the study.
conclusionsThe relative absence of a research infrastructure and culture in social care and the lack of research support funding available for social care agencies, compared to health organisations, has implications for increasing evidence-based practice in social care settings, particularly in this very vulnerable group of young people.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.