Personal social network of young people in institutional care

Aims: The social personal network has been considered an important protection factor when dealing with adversity. This study aims to characterize the social personal network of youngsters in foster homes during extended periods of time, by comparing the results according to sex. Method: Eighty-four young people participated in this study, 49 girls and 35 boys, aged between 12 and 20 years old (M = 15.26; SD = 2.17), living in 6 institutions of foster care from Santarem (Portugal). All were assessed through the Personal Social Networks Analysis Tool to characterize the structural, functional, and contextual/relational dimensions of networks. Results: The social network of youngsters in foster care are composed by 12 elements, in average, they are fragmented, diversified, and primarily composed of family members. The level of social support perception is high in the emotional and informative function, having a high satisfaction with social support. The contact frequency with the social network members is associated with the geographic distance. According to the sex, boys have networks slightly bigger than girls and they value more the family relations. Girls tend to identify more elements from "friend-families" (p<0.05), they tend to identify more diverse and denser networks, and they see the relationships as more symmetric (p<0.05). Girls identify networks mainly feminine and boys tendentiously masculine (p<0.01). Boys recognize a higher level of informative support (p =0.031), companionship (p=0.040), and access to new contacts (p=0.001). Conclusions: This study confirms the relevance of family to the young people in foster care, despite the distance, the frequency of contacts, and the underlying reasons that lead them to foster homes. These findings leads us to the importance of understanding the perspective from young people themselves about their interpersonal relationships, in order to enhance the informal social support and to plan a supported autonomization process.