Resilience in residential care: A qualitative study based on the voices of adolescents

Abstract

Young people placed in residential care are at an increased risk of a wide range of emotional and behavioral difficulties. Some of them deteriorate in psychological outcomes, some show no changes, and some show healthy psychological outcomes. Recent research has identified protective factors of adolescents’ psychological health outcomes in residential care, framed on the Resilience Portfolio Model. However, to the best of our knowledge, studies using qualitative designs are scarce. This qualitative study aimed to identify adolescents’ perspectives on the concept of resilience and identify their perspectives on protective factors for psychological health. Nineteen adolescents (12–17 years old; M = 14.21; 57.9 % male) from three non-specialized residential care settings in Portugal participated in this study, answering to a semi-structured interview. Data were analyzed using content analysis, and the results revealed that our participants identified specific factors in residential care (e.g., staff and peer support) and out-of-care (e.g., family) contexts that are relevant to their resilience outcomes. The childcare system should consider adolescents’ resilience portfolios by fostering individual assets and contextual protective factors to promote positive outcomes.