Child maltreatment in young adults with residential youth care background: Prevalence and post-placement trends

Young adults with residential youth care (RYC) background have often endured various forms of child maltreatment, impacting education, employment, health, mortality, and quality of life. There is limited research on the onset and duration of exposure to maltreatment before placement, as well as the prevalence of maltreatment occurring after children have been placed into out-of-home care. This study aims to investigate: (1) The sex-specific prevalence and age chronology of self-reported exposure to child maltreatment, and (2) whether the rate of these maltreatment forms differ between the year before and after first out-of-home placement by the Child Welfare Service. This study is a part of VINGO, a Norwegian nation-wide 10-year follow-up examining the health and welfare of 157 (107 females) adults with RYC background. The Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure Scale was administered as an online questionnaire, and mean scores and percentages of maltreatment forms were compared. Differences between groups were examined using t -tests and Pearson's Chi-Squared test. Most participants, 154 of 157 (98 %), reported at least one form of child maltreatment. Females reported higher rates of sexual abuse than males (53 % vs. 22 %, p < .001). No other sex differences were found. A majority of participants (63 %) reported decreased maltreatment rates post-placement, while 37 % had stable or increasing rates. Young adults with RYC background report high child maltreatment rates. Although out-of-home care provides protection, further development and improvement of initiatives aimed at reducing the risk of revictimization is likely needed. • Participants reported exposure to an average of 5 maltreatment forms and were exposed for an average of 14.8 childhood years • Parental verbal abuse, emotional neglect and peer emotional abuse were the most reported forms of maltreatment across sex • Two-thirds of participants reported reduced maltreatment after placement into care, while one-third reported no change • The most common maltreatment types reported after the first out-of-home care placement were emotional and physical neglect