Citation

Melkman EP. Child Abuse Negl. 2017; 72: 85-97.

Affiliation

Rees Centre for Research on Fostering and Education, Department of Education, University of Oxford, 28 Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6PY, UK. Electronic address: eranmelkman@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.07.020

PMID

28780420

Abstract

The goals of the present study are to examine the relationship between childhood adversity and adult well-being among vulnerable young adults formerly placed in substitute care, and to investigate how characteristics of their social support networks mediate this association. A sample of 345 Israeli young adults (ages 18-25), who had aged out of foster or residential care, responded to standardized self-report questionnaires tapping their social support network characteristics (e.g., network size or adequacy) vis-à-vis several types of social support (emotional, practical, information and guidance), experiences of childhood adversity, and measures of well-being (psychological distress, loneliness, and life satisfaction). Structural equation modelling (SEM) provided support for the mediating role of social support in the relationship between early adversity and adult well-being. Although network size, frequency of contact with its members, satisfaction with support, and network adequacy, were all negatively related to early adversity, only network adequacy showed a major and consistent contribution to the various measures of well-being. While patterns were similar across the types of support, the effects of practical and guidance support were most substantial. The findings suggest that the detrimental long-term consequences of early adversity on adult well-being are related not only to impaired structural aspects of support (e.g., network size), but also to a decreased ability to recognize available support and mobilize it. Practical and guidance support, more than emotional support, seem to be of critical importance.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Care leavers; Childhood adversity; Social network; Social support; Well-being