ArticleJCPP advances2026
A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the impact of placement instability on the mental health outcomes of care experienced children and young people.
Article in JCPP advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Care experienced children and young people (CECYP) are at risk of mental health difficulties. This review aimed to examine the impact of placement instability on the mental health outcomes of CECYP and to explore how placement instability is measured. Methods: This review was conducted following the PRISMA guidance. Four databases (PsycINFO, Embase, Medline and ProQuest) were initially searched on 14 Results: Twenty-two studies were eligible for inclusion. The measurement of placement instability varied with some studies counting number of placement moves and some grouping number of moves into levels. The time frames in which moves were measured also varied. Overall, placement instability had a negative impact on mental health outcomes in CECYP, irrespective of age, sex, domain of mental health assessed (internalising and externalising), and initial levels of mental health. The meta-analysis found that placement instability had a small significant association with both internalising ( Conclusion: Placement instability is inconsistently measured and defined in the literature. Despite this heterogeneity in operationalisation, it remains a concerning risk factor for mental health difficulties of CECYP. Efforts should be made to minimise instability for this population. Trial Registration: The protocol was registered on PROSPERO on the 2nd of February 2024 (CRD42024444031), can be found at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024444031.
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