The long-term emotional and physical wellbeing of women who have lived in kinship care

Objective: Three percent of America's children are living with a relative, without their biological parent (termed kinship care). Some of these arrangements are formally court-ordered while others are informally arranged. Little is known about the lasting impact of these living arrangements. This study investigated the relationship between childhood kinship care and adult physical and emotional wellbeing. Methods: Data from 8760 women in the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth were analyzed. Kinship (N=471) and comparison (N=8289) groups were identified. The outcome variables were health status, limitation in life activities, presence of anxiety, and unhappiness with life. Results: After adjusting for multiple predictor variables, kinship care was associated with greater unhappiness with life (OR 2.3, CI 1.5-3.6) and with the presence of prolonged anxiety (OR 1.6, CI, 1.1-2.2). Despite significant differences in bivariate analyses, kinship care was not associated in logistic regression models with either poor health status or limitations in life activities. Conclusions: Childhood kinship care is associated with poor emotional but not physical wellbeing in adulthood. Recognition of this risk factor by child welfare agencies and health care providers may facilitate intervention among adolescents prior to emancipation to permit more efficient diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.