Self-Concept Clarity and Experience of Care V2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Impact of Self-Concept Clarity, Perceived Social Support and Placement Type on Psychological Well-being
IRAS ID
142041
Contact name
Michele Kavanagh
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queens University Belfast
Research summary
Approximately 90,000 children and young people across the UK will spend some time in care over the course of a year. It is well documented that children and young people in care have poorer outcomes than children who have never experienced the care system.
Parker, Kavanagh, McKinney & Santin (2012) found that care leavers reported lower self-concept clarity, perceived social support and psychological wellbeing than a sample of undergraduate students. They also found that SCC was related to placement stability, with more stability predicting greater self-concept clarity.
This study proposes to use the data already obtained from the Parker et al. (2012) study. It is intended that a new sample of individuals who have experienced kinship care placements will be recruited in addition to this existing data. The additional participants will complete the same measures making the data comparable.
Multiple regression will be used to examine which factors predict psychological well-being in this population and also whether there are differences between placement types. It will also explore the moderating effect of self-concept clarity on the relationship between placement type and psychological well-being.
It is hoped that these findings will add to the literature base on the more positive outcomes that are increasingly being found in kinship care and extend the argument for more recognition and support for carers and young people in these placements.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1297
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion