Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Nov 5;21(11):1470. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21111470.
The completion rates of higher education are low among young adults with a history of foster care. Understanding how students from foster care alumni fare is imperative for facilitating attainment and preventing drop-out. The aim of this study was to compare students from foster care alumni and the general student population by examining (1) sociodemographic characteristics, academic functioning and need for special assistance; (2) contextual factors important for student life; and (3) mental and somatic health, loneliness, life satisfaction and use of cannabis and alcohol. Data comprised self-reports from the Norwegian national survey Students' Health and Well-being Study 2022. Reports from foster care alumni students ( = 508) were compared to those of the general student sample ( = 59,036). Compared to the general sample, twice as many foster care alumni students reported receiving or needing special assistance in their studies. Moreover, they reported substantially higher economic burden than their student peers, by higher frequency of work income, more financial worries, and less parental financial support. Foster care alumni students also reported a higher load of informal care responsibilities, poorer mental and somatic health, more loneliness and lower life satisfaction. Foster care alumni students fare comparably well in terms of grades and study progression despite the reported economic burden and impaired health and well-being. As these are factors shown to impact study completion, policies need to be put in place to ensure that care-experienced students receive adequate support through their young adulthood and specifically in higher education.
寄养背景的年轻人接受高等教育的完成率较低。了解寄养毕业生的学生表现对于促进他们的学业成就和防止辍学至关重要。本研究的目的是通过考察（1）社会人口统计学特征、学业表现和特殊援助需求；（2）对学生生活重要的背景因素；以及（3）心理健康、孤独感、生活满意度、大麻和酒精使用情况，来比较寄养毕业生学生和普通学生群体。数据来自 2022 年挪威全国学生健康和幸福感调查的自我报告。将寄养毕业生学生（n=508）的报告与普通学生样本（n=59036）进行比较。与普通样本相比，两倍多的寄养毕业生学生报告在学习中接受或需要特殊帮助。此外，他们报告的经济负担比学生同伴高得多，表现为工作收入频率更高、经济忧虑更多以及父母经济支持更少。寄养毕业生学生还报告了更多的非正式照顾责任，心理健康和身体健康状况更差，孤独感更强，生活满意度更低。尽管报告了经济负担和健康及幸福感受损，寄养毕业生学生在成绩和学业进展方面表现相当。由于这些因素被证明会影响学业完成，因此需要制定政策，以确保有过照护经历的学生在其整个青年期，特别是在高等教育阶段得到充分支持。
