Research by the Australian Catholic University has found the biggest risk to children’s mental health is not taking them out of home but abusing them.
Research by the Australian Catholic University the biggest impact to children’s mental health is not taking them out of the home after incidences of abuse, but the abuse itself.
The study, led by ACU Institute of Child Protection Studies Research Fellow Lottie Harris showed that when comparing children with similar intensity of maltreatment experiences, children who are taken into out-of-home care had similar rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress compared to those who remained at home.
Harris found the data suggested a child being placed into out of home care did not have an impact on overall mental health, with participants with relevantly similar experiences had similar outcomes.
Harris analysed data taken from more than 8,500 participants by the Australian Child Maltreatment Study which was compiled over the course of approximately a year, spending six months collating the data on the impacts of out of home care.
The study contained 395 people who were taken out of their homes and placed elsewhere due to abuse as a child. Harris matched up individual experiences with abused children who had remained in their homes in order to compare the outcomes.
She said the maltreatment study she used was balanced in terms of demographics, with a fairly even split between female and male participants and an age range from 16 to 65 years old.
Harris said the study indicated those who had been taken out of their homes were more likely to have mental health issues than others in the study but Harris thought this may be due to the abuse the participants suffered.
“That’s the impetus for them being in out of home care in the first place, so could it be the maltreatment that’s causing this high rate of mental health issues?” she told The Catholic Weekly.
“That’s why we decided that we wanted to really meaningfully compare groups, so the care experienced group and another very equivalent comparison group.”
She said the data showed maltreatment, not rehoming a child after abuse, was the cause of mental health issues, with participants’ data indicating being taken out of the house as a child did not make a significant impact.
“We can tell from this research that out of home care as an intervention for this group in particular did not significantly disrupt the trajectory we know that happens,” she said.
She said meaningful change, more resources, and a greater understanding of children with mental health issues were needed.
“We need a framework for the adults around these children to go ‘I know what to do when I see maltreatment in a child and they’re experiencing mental health issues’,” she said.
“That’s where I hope we can start to work towards getting some really pragmatic change.”