Staff Support and Adolescent Adjustment Difficulties: The Moderating Role of Length of Stay in the Residential Care Setting

Residential child care workers are one of the key support providers among youth in care. However, their contribution to the children`s well-being is an understudied issue in current literature. The current study examines the contribution of perceived support of staff in residential care settings (RCSs) and adolescent adjustment difficulties, above and beyond father and mother support and other child characteristics. It also examines the moderating role of adolescent length of stay in the current RCS in the link between staff support and adolescent adjustment difficulties. The study includes the reports of a random cluster sample of 1,409 adolescents, in grades 8 to 12, residing in 16 Israeli educational RCSs, designed for youth from underprivileged backgrounds. The findings show a medium to high level of support reported by the adolescents, with a high variance among the adolescents. Among the whole sample, perceived staff support was associated negatively with adolescent adjustment difficulties. A significant interaction was found between length of stay and staff support in predicting adjustment difficulties. Among youth residing for longer periods in the RCS, there is a stronger link between staff support and fewer adjustment difficulties. The findings have implications for residential care policy and practice, especially regarding the need to strengthen the role of child care workers as a social support system for children and youth in residential care.