Relational adaptation from adolescence to adulthood in women with a history of out-of-home care: a longitudinal domino effect

Adolescent girls with a history of out-of-home care are vulnerable to experiencing a host of psychosocial difficulties in young adulthood. Yet, insights into their relational functioning over time and associated cognitions, at critical stages of their development and with significant figures, remain limited. Drawing on schema and attachment theories, the following study tests a longitudinal serial indirect model to examine associations between adolescents’ relationship quality with their mother, their relationship quality with their professional carer, their endorsement of maladaptive cognitive schemas of abandonment and mistrust/abuse in young adulthood, and their attachment insecurity in adulthood. Data was gathered from 158 adolescents in residential care. Relationship quality with their mother and their professional carer were measured, respectively, at admission (T1; M age = 15.12 years) and three months later (T2). Maladaptive schemas were assessed 4.5 years following admission (T6). Insecure attachment was then assessed in adulthood (T7; M age = 27.49 years). Using structural equation modeling, results revealed that a more problematic relationship with the mother triggered a cascade of negative consequences: lower relationship quality with the professional carer which led to greater endorsement of schemas of abandonment and mistrust/abuse. Greater abandonment was then related to greater attachment anxiety whereas greater mistrust/abuse was related to greater attachment avoidance. Findings highlight the central role of adolescents’ relationships with their mother and professional carer for later relational functioning. Access to consistent, supportive, and emotionally secure relationships should be considered as therapeutic goals and a cornerstone of relational healing for adolescent girls in residential care.