Articles

A Follow-up Study of Out-of-Home Care in Denmark: Long-term effects on self-esteem among abused and neglected children

Authors

  • Mogens Nygaard Christoffersen Danish National Institute of Social Research, Copenhagen

Abstract

How did children growing up in out-of-home care manage as adults? Why did some of them manage better than others? These questions were explored in a survey based on three probability samples born in 1967 and interviewed in 1992. The first sample consisted of 700 individuals who had been in care during childhood according to files. To make a comparison both a sample of risk persons and a simple control sample were selected. The risk group and the control group were sampled from the same age group, 321 and 443 individuals respectively. The parents of the children in the risk group were long-term unemployed, while the control group was a simple probability sample among the cohort born in 1967. The logistic regression model revealed a few factors significantly associated with a low level of self-esteem. Accordingly, the reasons underlying these young adults' low self-esteem were partly due to abuse and neglect and partly due to their feelings of failure at school (i.e. difficulty concentrating and being bullied). These problems were connected to their present situation (i.e. unemployment and no education). One of the keyfactors was their present contact with their parents. Young adults who had no contact with their parents showed a low self-esteem and frequent personal problems (suicide considerations and psychiatric problems). Furthermore these problems were associated with conflicts between parents and the placement (foster care or residential care).

Author Biography

Mogens Nygaard Christoffersen, Danish National Institute of Social Research, Copenhagen

Mogens Nygaard Christoffersen, MSc (Sociology) is Senior Researcher at the Danish National Institute of
Social Research, Copenhagen.

Published

1996-06-01

Issue

Section

Articles