Mental health, negative life events and resilience among adolescents in contact with the child welfare services

Adolescents in contact with the child welfare services (CWS) are at increased risk of experiencing negative life events (NLE) and mental health problems compared to the general population. There is, however, limited knowledge of whether protective factors can promote resilience in the CWS population in the context of NLE. Data stem from the population-based youth@hordaland study conducted in 2012, comprising 9492 adolescents aged 16 -19 years. In total, 283 youth confirmed contact with the CWS and were categorized as receiving in-home services (IHS; n = 138) or living in foster care (FC; n = 145). The youth provided self-report information on NLE, mental health problems and protective factors. The IHS- and FC groups reported significantly more NLE, mental health problems and fewer protective factors compared to the general population. Adolescents receiving IHS consistently reported the most problems compared to the general population. Approximately 30 % of the association between contact with the CWS and mental health problems was mediated by NLE. Further, higher scores on the protective factors predicted lower levels of mental health problems, independent of the number of experienced NLE. Small interaction effects were found for the protective factors Goal Orientation and Family Cohesion and NLE. The results highlight that protective factors can buffer against mental health problems among adolescents receiving CWS interventions. More research is needed to further disentangle the mechanisms leading to better outcomes in this high-risk group of adolescents.