School Adjustment of Children in Residential Care: a Multi-Source Analysis

• Published in: The Spanish journal of psychology Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 462 - 470
• Main Authors: Martín, Eduardo, de Bustillo, María del Carmen Muñoz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.11.2009; Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Psychology
• Subjects: Achievement; Adolescent; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child care; Child development; Child protection; Child Welfare; Developmental psychology; Educational psychology; Female; Foster Home Care - psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Peer Group; Peer groups; Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure; Residential Facilities; Schooling; Schools; Social Adjustment; Social Environment; Social integration; Socialization; Sociometric Techniques; Spain; Teachers; Europe; Spain; residential child care; protección infantil; acogimiento residencial; adaptación escolar; child protection; análisis multi-fuente; multi-source analysis; school adjustment; Human; Interest; School age; Social behavior; School adaptation; Social interaction; Residential treatment; Child
• ISSN: 1138-7416; 1988-2904
• DOI: 10.1017/S1138741600001840

School adjustment is one the greatest challenges in residential child care programs. This study has two aims: to analyze school adjustment compared to a normative population, and to carry out a multi-source analysis (child, classmates, and teacher) of this adjustment. A total of 50 classrooms containing 60 children from residential care units were studied. The “Método de asignación de atributos perceptivos” (Allocation of perceptive attributes; Díaz-Aguado, 2006), the “Test Autoevaluativo Multifactorial de Adaptación Infantil” (TAMAI [Multifactor Self-assessment Test of Child Adjustment]; Hernández, 1996) and the “Protocolo de valoración para el profesorado (Evaluation Protocol for Teachers; Fernández del Valle, 1998) were applied. The main results indicate that, compared with their classmates, children in residential care are perceived as more controversial and less integrated at school, although no differences were observed in problems of isolation. The multi-source analysis shows that there is agreement among the different sources when the externalized and visible aspects are evaluated. These results are discussed in connection with the practices that are being developed in residential child care programs. La adaptación escolar es uno de los mayores retos pendientes de los programas de acogimiento residencial de menores. Este trabajo tiene dos objetivos: analizar dicha adaptación en comparación con la población normativa, y realizar un análisis multi-fuente (menor, compañeros y profesor) de la misma. Se estudiaron un total de 50 aulas a las que pertenecen 60 menores que viven en dispositivos de acogimiento residencial. Se aplicaron el método de asignación de atributos perceptivos (Díaz-Aguado, 2006), el Test Autoevaluativo Multifactorial de Adaptación Infantil (Hernández, 1996) y el protocolo de valoración para el profesorado (Fernández del Valle, 1998). Los principales resultados indican que los menores de acogimiento residencial, al ser comparados con sus compañeros, son percibidos como más conflictivos y menos integrados escolarmente, aunque no se observan diferencias en los problemas de aislamiento. El análisis multi-fuente muestra que existe acuerdo entre las diferentes fuentes cuando lo que se valora son los aspectos externalizados y visibles de la adaptación escolar. En cambio, tanto el profesorado como los iguales tienen dificultades para percibir los aspectos más internalizados de la adaptación escolar. Estos resultados se discuten en relación a la práctica que se viene desarrollando desde los programas de acogimiento residencial.