Predicting Factors in Coping Profiles Among Out-of-Home Care Leavers in Aftercare Services: A Document-Based Bayesian Analysis

Adolescents in aftercare services and transitioning from out-of-home care, also known as care leavers, are more prone to social exclusion, risk behaviors, mental health problems, and lower quality of life compared to adolescents without a history in out-of-home care. These factors have a detrimental effect on their coping. This study was a cross-sectional document analysis which examined Finnish care leavers' coping profiles and identified health related, educational, and behavioral background factors as well as their combinations predicting those profiles by utilizing Bayesian method. The data comprised information on care leavers that were aftercare services' clients in one large Finnish city in the Fall 2020 (N = 698). Care leavers were divided into three groups based on the severity of factors affecting their coping: a minority belonged to the "moving on" group (6.7%), the majority (73.4%) to the "survivors" group, and a fifth (19.9%) to the - most problematic - "strugglers" group. Overall, 16 independent health related, educational, and behavioral factors were found to be associated with coping profiles. The most strongly associated variables were alcohol and drug use in personal history as well as during aftercare, and impulsivity. In addition, having access to a student's social benefits had a protective effect on care leavers' coping. Therefore, coping is a multifaceted phenomenon, which emphasizes the importance of service development and multiprofessional collaboration. In addition, the factors affecting the coping profile are also interconnected, which emphasizes the significance of further research, including intervention studies, to increase the knowledge of the phenomenon.