SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2022
Mental disorders among adults formerly in out-of-home care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 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
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Parent-child separation and cardiometabolic outcomes and risk factors in adulthood: A systematic review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- A comparative study of mental health and wellbeing in adopted children, children in foster and kinship care, and the general population.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Article
- Adaptation in emergent adulthood for persons with prior experience in residential youth care in Norway: an observational study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Article
- Parental Death and Psychiatric Disorders Among Individuals with and Without Experience of Out-of-Home Care: A Swedish Nationwide Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Estimating the impact of out-of-home placement on health risk behavior in adolescents exposed to maltreatment: An advanced causal inference approach.Child abuse & neglect · 2026Article
- Review
- Prevalence and comorbidity of mental disorders among young adults with a history of residential youth care - a two-wave longitudinal study of stability and change.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Identifying the parental figures of children who enter care: The pros and cons of different data linkage methods using Welsh datasets.International journal of population data science · 2026Article
- Mapping the evidence on outcomes of childhood out-of-home care: A scoping review of reviews.PloS one · 2026Article
- The role of social support in the association between adolescent emotional and behavioral problems and quality of life in young adulthood in youth residential care leavers.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations of lifetime stressors and health behaviors with inflammation in young adults previously placed in youth residential care.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Differential effects of childhood maltreatment types and timing on psychopathology in formerly out-of-home placed young adults.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- Care needs and factors reducing caregiver burden for children with special health care needs in out-of-home care in Japan: An observational study.Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS · 2025Observational
- Systematic review of health and social outcomes among Indigenous People exposed to the child welfare system: a protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Illuminating Hypomania in Early Adolescence: Associations Between Dark-Side and Bright-Side Hypomania, Insomnia, and Health-Related Quality of Life.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Academic Performance, Health and Support Needs: Comparing Foster Care Alumni and Peers in Higher Education in Norway.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- The Role of Family in the Life Satisfaction of Young Adults: An Ecological-Systemic Perspective.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While children and adolescents placed in child welfare or juvenile justice out-of-home care show higher prevalence rates of mental disorders compared to the general population, it remains unclear whether this pattern persists into adulthood. A quantitative synthesis of existing studies is lacking. The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the prevalence rates for mental disorders among adults with a foster or residential child welfare or juvenile justice care history, comparing them where possible to rates among the general population. PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE, and Web of Science were systematically searched for epidemiological studies published up to 28 October 2020. Nineteen studies, totaling 604,257 participants, met our inclusion criteria. Random-effects models were used for prevalence rates and odds ratios (OR) of mental disorders, and study quality was rated. A prevalence rate of 30% [95% CI (23.36, 37.36)] for any mental disorder in adults with a child welfare care history was found (3-17% for specific disorders). A prevalence rate of 45% [95% CI (42.38, 47.38)] for any mental disorder was found in adults with a juvenile justice care history (6-66% for specific disorders). For out-of-home placement history, adult mental disorders were significantly higher than in the general population (OR = 1.33-2.76). Studies differed in terms of methodology and the disorder groups considered, so heterogeneity between effect sizes ranged from low to high. Our findings suggest that the high risk that mental health issues will persist in adults with an out-of-home placement history needs to be taken seriously in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The care systems involved need to collaborate and to be aware of these risks.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.