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Abstract
The purpose of this research was to provide a prospective look at the relationship
between change in placement and problem behaviors over a 12-month period among a cohort
of foster children.
The sample contained 415 youth, and was part of a larger cohort of children who entered
foster care in San Diego, California and remained in placement for at least 5 months.
The Child Behavior Check List was used to assess behavior problems. Every change of
placement during the first 18 months after entry into the foster care system was abstracted
from case records.
The results suggest that volatile placement histories contribute negatively to both
internalizing and externalizing behavior of foster children, and that children who
experience numerous changes in placement may be at particularly high risk for these
deleterious effects. Initial externalizing behaviors proved to be the strongest predictor
of placement changes for the entire sample and for a sub-sample of those who initially
evidenced problem behaviors on at least one broad-band CBCL scale. Our findings also
suggest that children who initially score within normal ranges on the CBCL may be
particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of placement breakdowns.
On the basis of these findings we argue for an analytical approach that views behavior
problems as both a cause and as a consequence of placement disruption. Children who
do not evidence behavior problems may in fact constitute a neglected population that
responds to multiple disruptions of their primary relationships with increasingly
self-defeating behaviors.